Federer roars into Australian Open finals

The decision sets up a title match Sunday between Federer, who owns three Australian Open championships among his record 15 Grand Slam titles, and No. 5-seeded Scot Andy Murray, whose only other major tournament final appearance ended in a loss to Federer at the 2008 U.S. Open. Murray, however, holds a 7-6 overall advantage head-to-head against Federer.

The Swiss Federer was very sharp in dispatching Tsonga, from France, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in 88 minutes. Federer had just 13 unforced errors and didn't face a break point in earning his 18th Grand Slam final appearance in the last 19 tennis majors. He'll be looking to improve on his runner-up finish in the 2009 Australian Open.

Federer got the first of his five breaks against Tsonga in the fourth game of the first set and lost a mere eight points over his first seven service games in keeping Tsonga at length. A break in the sixth game of the second set helped put the Swiss player up two sets.

Tsonga had his serve broken in the third and fifth games of the third set before Federer sewed up the semifinal.

Murray has played exceedingly well during the Australian Open. He didn't lose a set until 14th-seeded Croat Marin Cilic took the first set to open their semifinal match Thursday, which Murray ended up winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Copyright 2010 United Press International.