Roger Federer produced one of the most ruthless performances in tennis history to steam into the Australian Open final with a demoralising and record-equalling victory over Andy Roddick.

Federer utterly destroyed the American 6-4 6-0 6-2 in just 83 minutes to leave even the legendary Rod Laver awestruck.

Fittingly, Laver was courtside in the arena named in his honour to witness Federer's breathtaking display.

Before the match, Laver - the only man ever to complete two calendar-year grand slams - tipped Federer to land his 10th major at Melbourne Park this weekend, declaring the Swiss genius virtually unbeatable in his current form.

"Roger's got too many shots, too much talent in one body," he said.

"It's hardly fair that one person can do all this - his backhands, his forehands, volleys, serving, his court position ... the way he moves around the court, you feel like he's barely touching the ground, and that's the sign of a great champion.

"And his anticipation, I guess, is the one thing that we all admire."

Federer was in full flight, producing some amazing tennis to shut out Roddick like he's never been shut out before.

In the process he equalled Australian Jack Crawford's 73-year-old record of reaching seven successive grand slam finals.

After trading early service breaks with Roddick, the world No.1 made his move at 4-4 in the opening set.

He won a rare net duel to break Roddick for 5-4 before serving out the set to love in 33 minutes, thundering down his sixth ace on set point.

Federer was imperious in the second set, conceding just six points and committing only two unforced errors to take the set in 23 minutes, the Swiss's shotmaking at times absolutely sublime.

The defending champion maintained the assault to break Roddick again to go ahead 2-0 in the third set before the sixth seed drew an ovation from the disbelieving crowd inside Rod Laver Arena for finally winning a game.

But there would be no stopping Federer, the champion Swiss breaking Roddick for a seventh time - on his seventh break point of the match - to skip out to a 5-2 lead.

Federer, 25, completed the rout with his 45th winner in 18 games to leave spectators and commentators alike shaking their heads in amazement.

"We are witnessing history. This is the most dominant athlete on planet earth today," former world No.1 Jim Courier said while commentating on Channel Seven.

"I have never seen a shellacking like this in the semi-finals of a major (against) a quality player (like Roddick)."

Federer had lost to the big-serving Roddick for the first time in more than three years just two weeks ago in the final of the Kooyong Classic exhibition event and made the startling confession he felt vulnerable heading into their semi-final.

"I was worried going into the match because he was playing so well. I expected 50 aces to go past me, but today that was not the case," he said.

"I played incredibly well, saw the ball incredibly well. It's unreal. I'm shocked myself. I don't know what to say.

"The tournament's not even over yet. Let's not get carried away. Let me do it one more time."

Federer will be one of the shortest-priced favourites in grand slam history to "do it one more time" in Sunday night's final against the victor of Friday's second semi between Chilean Fernando Gonzalez or German Tommy Haas.

A shell-shocked Roddick said he couldn't believe how the match unfolded and admitted he felt powerless to stop the Swiss juggernaut.

"If you would have told me this beforehand, I didn't foresee it," he said.

"It was miserable. It sucked. It was terrible.

"He's a great front-runner, there's no doubt about it ... once he gets his lead, (he) just gets that much more confidence, I mean, it's tough coming back.

"There aren't a lot of instances where people have forged a comeback on him."

The 25-year-old, who held the world No.1 ranking briefly before Federer assumed top spot in February 2004, said he had no choice but to accept the loss and continue working hard on his game with coach Jimmy Connors.

"I just got to keep doing what I do. I wake up every morning. I put in as much as I can every day," said Roddick whose record is 1-11 in matches against world No.1s.

"You do your best not to get discouraged. You try to take it like a man.

"I caught an absolute beating tonight. There's no doubt about it. There's no two ways about it. You deal with it and you go back to the drawing board.

"You act like a professional and you try to keep working hard."

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