Roger Federer overcame a rocky start to defeat countryman Stanislas Wawrinka 7-5, 6-3 here Saturday night and set up a dream championship match at the ATP World Tour Finals against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
The 34-year-old Federer will be competing in his 10th final at this year-end indoor event when he takes the court Sunday at the O2 arena against the Serbian, who cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 semifinal victory earlier Saturday over Spain's Rafael Nadal.
Federer narrowly defeated Wawrinka in last year's semifinals before a back injury forced him to pull out of the final, also against Djokovic, who will be looking to capture his fourth straight ATP World Tour Finals title.
Saturday's victory was much more straightforward for Federer, who dominated the match after falling behind 4-2 in the first set.
The world No. 3 relied on his outstanding serve to win 76 percent of his first-serve points and also was stellar at the net in taking the first set in just over 30 minutes.
Wawrinka then put up little resistance in the second set, falling behind 3-0 to put himself in deep hole and then bowing out when Federer held serve at love in the final game.
With the victory before a crowd that included David Beckham, Thierry Henry and actor Hugh Grant, Federer ran his career mark against Wawrinka to 18-3.
"A great match, I really enjoyed it," Federer said after clinching his fifth final berth at this event in the past six years.
Referring to the 28-year-old Djokovic, whom the Swiss defeated earlier this week in the tournament's round-robin phase, Federer joked that the reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion "should be knocked out by now."
"No, I am joking. He played a great match against Rafael Nadal earlier today and I'm sure (Sunday's final) will be a fantastic meeting."
Federer will be looking to add to his record haul of six titles at this event, while Djokovic is seeking his fifth ATP World Tour Finals crown
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