Fourth seed Marat Safin [Images] hammered out a warning to his rivals for the Australian Open [Images] title when he destroyed 20th seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals. The Russian, runner-up at Melbourne [Images] Park in two of the past three years, raced to victory in 90 minutes to set up a clash with top seed and defending champion Roger Federer [Images] or four-times winner Andre Agassi [Images], the eighth seed.
Hrbaty had beaten French Open [Images] champion Gaston Gaudio and former Australian Open winner Thomas Johansson on his way to the last eight but he was helpless as an inspired Safin crunched 33 winners.
With the roof on Rod Laver Arena closed because of extreme heat, the Russian looked completely at ease and cruised through the second and third sets.
Match statistics:
| Safin | Hrbaty |
| 1st serve percentage | 49% | 44% |
| Aces | 14 | 2 |
| Double faults | 2 | 0 |
| Winning % on 1st serve | 30 of 34 - 88% | 20 of 32 - 63% |
| Winning % on 2nd serve | 20 of 35 - 57% | 17 of 40 - 43% |
| Winners (including service) | 33 | 12 |
| Unforced errors | 21 | 29 |
| Break point conversions | 6 of 8 - 75% | 1 of 4 - 25% |
| Net approaches | 10 of 17 - 59% | 7 of 10 - 70% |
| Total points won | 85 | 56 |
| Match duration one hour 30 minutes |
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