Marat Safin booked his place in the Australian Open final after coming from behind to beat Tommy Haas in five sets in Melbourne this morning. Safin, the former US Open champion, was trailing 2-1 in sets and leading in the fourth after holding serve in the opening game when rain forced the stoppage of play, but he re-emerged to secure a final meeting with Thomas Johansson with a 6-7 7-6 3-6 6-0 6-2 victory.
Safin was in all sorts of trouble against Haas, who was leading 7-6 6-7 6-3 0-1 when rain began falling at Melbourne Park. Safin was surly, sluggish and looked a beaten man, trudging around a blazing centre court where temperatures topped 33 degrees celsius.
After only the fifth game of the second set Safin slumped in his chair and called for the trainer, complaining he had "no reaction" in his legs. He was given a massage, vitamin C and aspirin tablets. Safin managed to scrape through the second set but couldn't keep pace with Haas in the third. Then Melbourne's notoriously fickle weather intervened, before Safin returned to take the final two sets and a place in Sunday's final
Filed by Shane Murray
