Federer on fire in Masters Cup

SHANGHAI, China -- Roger Federer came up with a first in a career that has contained almost everything in tennis.

The two-time defending champion warmed up for his third consecutive Tennis Masters Cup final with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Gaston Gaudio in Saturday's semifinals and will play for the title against David Nalbandian. This was Federer's first love-and-love victory and the first at the year-ending championships, which began in 1970.

"I think it's nice to have, but no more than that," he said.

The top-seeded Swiss star showed little emotion as he walked slowly to the net to shake hands with Gaudio, the 2004 French Open winner.

With his all-time best run of 24 consecutive victories in finals, Federer is a big favorite to beat Nalbandian, another Argentine, in Sunday's championship. Nalbandian defeated fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-0, 7-5 in the other semifinal.

Gaudio said he'd never lost by such a score. A "double bagel" -- as it's called in tennis parlance -- is rare. There was one on the ATP Tour in 2004 and only six in five years before that.

"There's no excuses," Gaudio said. "I was playing against a guy who is the best in history on a surface (where) he's so much better than me. Once in a lifetime it happens -- and it happened to me. I'm sad about it, I don't like it, but there's worse things that can happen."

Federer's emphatic victory restored some dynamic to the season- ending tournament after a week marred by injuries and withdrawals. It also exposed the lack of competition -- four of the top five players and Australian Open champion Marat Safin withdrew either before or at the start of the tournament.

Federer, who had been sidelined six weeks because of an injured right ankle, hobbled into Shanghai thinking he'd be the most likely to withdraw.

"I definitely felt a little bit of pressure," he said. "That I've made it so far now I think is maybe great for the tournament -- I hope so. For myself, I think even more."

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal, the last player to beat Federer -- at the French Open semifinals in June -- and No. 5-ranked Andre Agassi pulled out Monday because of injuries.

"All of a sudden, I felt a little bit left alone," Federer said. "I was like, 'Well, I better win a match here."

He's done better than that, extending his winning sequence to 35 and equaling Bjorn Borg (1978) and Thomas Muster (1995) for the fifth-best winning sequence in the Open era.

And at 81-3 in 2005, he's one win shy of equaling John McEnroe's 21-year-old Open era record for best winning percentage in a season. Federer has been ranked No. 1 since February 2004.

If he makes it 15 straight defeats of Argentine players with a win over Nalbandian, he'll become the first man since Ivan Lendl (1985-87) to win three consecutive season-ending championships.

Nalbandian, aiming to be first Argentine since Guillermo Vilas in 1974 to win the season-ending event, refuses to be awed by Federer.

"He's beating everybody else. It's not just the Argentina players -- it's everybody," said Nalbandian, who entered the tournament ranked 12th and wouldn't have qualified but for all the injuries. "I don't care."

Federer won in 50 minutes, surrendering only nine points in the second set. Gaudio was back on court 22 hours after saving three match points against Fernando Gonzalez to qualify for the semis.

"I was looking for a very consistent match, no lapses like I've had in the last couple of matches in the second set," Federer said. "It couldn't have been more perfect."

Federer is 3-5 against Nalbandian, but has won his last three matches against him, including last Sunday's comeback win in the Red Group round-robin match.

Federer secured the year-end No. 1 ranking on Oct. 2 by winning in Thailand for his 11th title of the season. He injured his ankle in training the following week. He's worn a heavy ankle brace for each match in Shanghai.

He said McEnroe's record from 1984 was definitely on his radar, but he wouldn't judge his year entirely by it.

"If it doesn't happen, I still had a fantastic year," Federer said. "Only losing three matches is extraordinary. The most I can lose now is four, and that's a great year as well."

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