Federer, Williams steam into finals

B D Narayankar

Melbourne: Roger Federer moved into the final of the Australian Open here on Thursday after defeating America's Andy Roddick in 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 in an enthralling encounter.

This is Swiss maestro's 18th grand slam final and fourth one in the Australian Open.

Earlier Serena Williams also advanced into the finals, trouncing Elena Dementieva. She will face Dinara Safina in the summit clash.

Federer set up a sterling performance under the stars. He played an unbelievablely precision tennis. For Roddick it was simply a nightmare.

Williams kept her cool, though, and cruised past an opponent who had won their previous three meetings.

Victory over Safina in Saturday's final will vault Williams back to world number one but the ranking is secondary to her.

Williams has nine grand slam singles titles to her name and is desperate to hit double figures.

Another Russian Safina ousted Vera Zvonareva 6-3 7-6 in the other semifinal.