Federer defeats Agassi to reach Dubai final

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Roger Federer routed Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-1 in the Dubai Open semifinals Saturday and will play Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic in a title match for the third time this year.

The top-ranked Federer beat Agassi a sixth straight time. This latest victory was even more impressive than the one in straight sets in last month's Australian Open quarterfinals. Agassi last defeated Federer in 2002.

"I have shown I can raise my game when it is important," Federer said. "I didn't expect anything like this because the way I was playing. I was really struggling with my rhythm and I thought it would be really hard against Agassi. But I pulled off a magnificent match."

Agassi said he made a few mistakes but conceded Federer was better.

"He was just too good in the second set," Agassi said. "I could have made a few less errors. But it was much more him out there tonight."

Federer, the two-time defending Dubai champion, will play eighth-seeded Ljubicic only a week after edging the big-serving Croat in the Rotterdam final. Last month, the Swiss star downed Ljubicic in the Doha final.

"Hopefully, I will have a few spectators on my side tomorrow," Ljubicic said after firing 13 aces to oust fifth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal.

This will be Ljubicic's fourth final of the year, and he has yet to win one.

Federer has won an ATP-record 15 straight finals since 2003.

Earlier, Federer and Agassi beat Russian opponents in quarterfinals that had been postponed from Friday because of rain. Federer downed seventh-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-5. Agassi, seeded fourth, topped sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-6 (4).