MELBOURNE, Australia (AP);

Roger Federer moved within one victory of his 14th Grand Slam title with another dominating victory, ousting Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 yesterday to reach the Australian Open final.

Roddick, whose rigorous off-season training regime was designed to help him beat Federer and top-ranked Rafael Nadal, was in good form.

But second-ranked Federer outplayed him in every phase of the game. Ripping winners from all over the court and usually forcing Roddick to hit more than one good shot to win a point. He even had more aces than the hard-serving American, 16-8.

"I served well in the first set and that gave me a lot of confidence," Federer said. "I was moving well and getting a lot of balls back and making it difficult for Andy to get the upper hand from the baseline. That was kind of what I was hoping for."

Seeking fourth victory

Federer, seeking his fourth Australian title, will face the winner of today's semi-final between Nadal and fellow Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco.

The women's final matchup was set earlier in the day. Serena Williams was calm, collected and cool with the Rod Laver Arena roof closed to keep out what news reports called Melbourne's hottest January day since 1939 - temperatures hit 44C (111F). She ended Olympic champion Elena Dementieva's 15-match winning streak with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

All that stands between her and a 10th Grand Slam title is third-seeded Dinara Safina, who is hungry to take home her first major trophy to go along with the two that brother Marat Safin has earned.

Safina ousted fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final. The winner tomorrow also will rise to the No. 1 ranking.

By the time Federer and Roddick were on court in the evening, temperatures had dropped to 33C (91F) so the retractable roof was open.

Bit of pressure

Although Roddick won their last meeting, Federer raised his record against him to 16-2.

"The last time I lost, so coming into this match there was a bit of pressure," Federer said.

It didn't show. Instead, this one played out like many of the Swiss star's previous victories.

Blunting Roddick's blistering serves, Federer broke twice in the first set. Adding to Roddick's frustration was a call that went against him as Federer served at 4-1.

A Federer shot was called out but he successfully challenged. Chair umpire Enric Molina ruled that Roddick couldn't have got to the ball and gave the point to Federer. Roddick argued he stopped running when he heard the "out" call and he had an ongoing dialogue with Molina during several changeovers.