Men's final could be surprise classic

It's probably not the dream match up the promoters had in mind at the start of the tournament but Sunday's Australian Open men's singles final between Marat Safin and Thomas Johansson could turn out to be an unexpected classic.

The championship decider was always going to be fought out by two unlikely finalists after a spate of shock results in the first saw the world's top six ranked players all eliminated before the third round - the first time that has happened at any grand slam.

Safin and Johansson took advantage of the weakened draw, emerging through the pack to set up a final between two players of contrasting form and personality.

Safin is all power and strength and he likes to blast his opponents off the court while Johansson is a tactician, who prefers to manoeuvre his rivals around and wear them down.

Safin gave the world a glimpse of his precocious talent when he thumped Pete Sampras in the 2000 U.S. Open final to claim his first grand slam title but he hasn't made a major final since.

He has a reputation of a player who is easily frustrated and often loses his concentration but he has shown a new maturity over the past fortnight that suggests he is ready to fulfil his enormous talent.

POOR FORM

Injuries and over-confidence effected his form last year but Safin, who briefly held the number one ranking in 2000 -- the youngest man in history to do so -- believes he is back as a better and stronger player.

"I didn't expect many things last year so I just started preparing for this year, that was my goal because I couldn't finish number one in the world last year," Safin said.

"With the confidence you play much better but you have to be careful, it's quite dangerous. But I'm learning, I'm growing up."

Safin, seeded ninth, didn't drop a set in getting to the fourth round but things got tougher for him after that.

He beat Pete Sampras in a tough four-setter in the fourth set that could easily have gone to five then was taken all the way by Germany's Tommy Haas in the semifinals after he seemed to be heading towards defeat.

"I had no chance but I kept on fighting so that was very good. It's very positive for me to find my game at the right time and the right moment."

Johansson was taken to four sets in four of his first five matches and trailed two sets to one in his semifinal against Czech Jiri Novak.

But the Swedish 16th seed, who had never been past the quarter-finals of any grand slam before this, overcame a bad case of nerves to beat Novak in five sets and book himself a place in the final with Safin.

"I'm a little bit of an underdog but I'm going to try my best," Johansson said.

"I'm really, really surprised, because the way I've been playing before this tournament I didn't expect too much.

"But then after the first two rounds I've been feeling great on the court and I've been playing maybe my best tennis ever.

SAFIN FAVOURITE

Safin, who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Sunday, has beaten Johansson twice in three matches and is the favourite to win the final but his biggest problem could be the weather.

The Russian hates playing in the heat but with temperatures of 35 degrees forecast for Sunday, he knows he is going to have a tough day against the ice-cool Swede.

"I'm just praying for rain, because I think he's a great player, and against him you have to stay there, you have to fight a lot and just take your chances," Safin said.

"Nobody likes to play against him because he is a very complete tennis player. He is a top-20 player and he's going to be top 10 and he deserves it."