MELBOURNE: Roger Federer is wary of Fernando Gonzales continuing in his red-hot form as the world number one shoots for his 10th Grand Slam title in Sunday's Australian Open final.
Chile's 10th seed has been in unbelievable touch over his last four matches, blowing away 2005 finalist Lleyton Hewitt, fifth seed American James Blake, world number two Rafael Nadal and triple Australian semi-finalist Tommy Haas.
Federer has breezed through to his 11th slam final without shedding a set and is widely expected to successfully defend his Australian title and carry off his third crown at Melbourne Park.
But there is the chance that Gonzales, his game restructured by American coach Larry Stefanki, can defy the odds and win his first match against the incomparable Swiss in 10 meetings.
Federer rates Gonzales, armed with one of the fiercest forehands in men's tennis, as a bigger threat than Cypriot surprise package Marcos Baghdatis, who defied his 54th ranking to make last year's Australian final.
Gonzales is projected to climb to at least five on the next rankings by reaching his first Grand Slam final and has won so convincingly against four top-20 opponents that he has earned Federer's respect.
"I'm surprised to see Fernando in the final," Federer said on Saturday.
"Not anything against him, but I thought that Nikolay Davydenko or Nadal would have come through in the end. They ended up both losing at the same time."
"I had it last year really. I thought Marcos Baghdatis was never going to make the finals. He beat all these great players. I ended up playing against a player that I'm a huge favourite.
"This time around may be I'm not that big of a favourite because Fernando has a very good ranking, whereas Marcos, he was quite low ranked back then."
"I think it's great to see a new face on a big stage for a change again."
"This year it's Fernando. The only thing is he doesn't have all those great five-setters like Marcos had. He just came through and put everybody away right away. I think it's going to be a fun final for sure."
Federer is on the threshold of more tennis milestones should he overturn Gonzales.
He will join American Bill Tilden as joint fifth all-time Grand Slam title leader with 10 behind Pete Sampras's 14.
The mercurial Swiss has already equalled Australian Jack Crawford's all-time record for seven consecutive Grand Slam final appearances and could become the 14th player to successfully defende his Australian championship.
Federer is also bidding to become only the fourth man to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set, the last being Bjorn Borg at the 1980 French Open.
