On way to final,Federer rediscovers invincible touch

Roger Federer is looking a lot like the player who racked up major title after major title a few years ago.

With his forehand flying all over the court and his backhand bringing in point-after-point,Roger Federer is looking a lot like the player who racked up major title after major title a few years ago.

The second-ranked Swiss was nearly perfect for the fourth straight match at the ATP World Tour Finals,easily beating Novak Djokovic 6-1,6-4 on Saturday to set up a final against top-ranked Rafael Nadal.

The former world No.1 jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set,and then broke Djokovic again to make a 5-1. But Djokovic responded early in the second set,breaking Federer to give himself a 3-0 lead. That didnt last long,however,as Federer held serve,broke back and then held again to 3-3.

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Federers run lasted another three points,but he wasted all three break points he held in the seventh game,allowing Djokovic to take a 4-3 lead on serve. After holding,Federer broke again and then served out the match.

I was able to outplay him at times,play aggressive, said Federer,who has won a record 16 Grand Slam titles. I took it to him,exactly the way I was hoping to make it.

Federers play appeared effortless,just as it did in the mid-2000s when he won more than a dozen major titles. His forehand was spraying to all corners of the court,his backhand was shooting across the net with pace,and his drop shots were landing out of his opponents reach.

Hes really stepping in,hitting the backhands and forehands all over the court,winners. Every ball kind of listens to him, Djokovic said. Its very hard. He doesnt give you a lot of free points.

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Federer has won in straight sets in all four of his matches at the season-ending tournament for the top eight players in the world. He first beat David Ferrer in the round-robin stage,then made Andy Murray look ordinary before defeating Robin Soderling.

Djokovic,who is 6-13 against Federer but beat him in this years US Open semifinals,was just another in that line. Its been a great tournament so far,clearly,having not lost a set and beaten so many good players,close rivals, Federer said. Today was another great match.

Up next,however,was Nadal,who has won the last three Grand Slam titles but needed three sets and more than three hours to beat Andy Murray in the other semifinal. Obviously Im really looking forward to playing against Rafa. Who wouldnt? said Federer,who has beaten Nadal twice in the semifinals of the tour finals.