HAMBURG, May 18: Russian Marat Safin blasted his way into the Hamburg Masters final on Saturday when Spain’s Tommy Robredo retired with an ankle injury when trailing the sixth seed 6-2 4-2.

The Russian will face Roger Federer after the Swiss earlier beat his doubles partner Max Mirnyi 6-4 6-4 to advance to his second Masters Series final of the year and a first ever claycourt final.

Former world number one Safin — a runner-up here to Gustavo Kuerten in 2000 — proved too powerful and wily for the unseeded baseliner.

Sparkling on the 13,000 capacity centre court, Safin reeled off five games in a row from 2-2 in the opener to take a one-set lead and nose ahead in the second.

Robredo’s head dropped and when he was broken for 4-2 in the second set, simply shook his head and walked to the net to shake Safin’s hand.

Federer had been a first round loser on both previous visits to the north German port city in 2000 and 2001, but the 20-year-old looked completely at home at the $2.8 million event this year.

Both Federer and Mirnyi started their semifinal confidently, punching serves deep and keeping groundstrokes steady as they felt for each other’s weaknesses.

Mirnyi was the first to crack when he was broken for 3-2 — his constant net-charging approach undone by some acutely-angled returns from the gifted Swiss.

Federer held comfortably for 4-2 and broke the Belarussian’s serve again for 5-2 as he threatened to take a grip of the match.

The towering Mirnyi applied the brakes swiftly, however, stepping up his attacking style and grabbing a break straight back with a lunging forehand at the net.

A series of searing serves and weighty, full-blooded volleys helped Mirnyi hold to trail 5-3 and put the pressure back on Federer to serve out the set.

Mirnyi continued to attack Federer’s serve fearlessly but it was the Swiss who moved into a 40-love lead to hold three set points and he clinched the opener on his third with an ace after 38 minutes.

The doubles partners — wearing the same sponsor’s red shirt and white shorts and using the same brand of racket — refused to give an inch in the second set.

Mirnyi’s massive serves and acrobatic volleying were matched by Federer’s guile and rallying from the back as little separated the pair.

Mirnyi fought off a break point with an ace at 30-40, and crunched away a high forehand volley to save a second but when Federer steered a backhand return past him to bring up a third break point, the Belarussian crumbled, throwing in a short service which Federer again punched past him at the net for a 1-0 lead in the second set.

The Swiss consolidated the break immediately, holding to love as he took a step towards the final.

That single break proved to be all Federer needed, the Swiss going on to clinch victory on his second match point when Mirnyi ballooned a forehand metres long.

Results: (prefix number denotes seeding):

Semifinal: 6-Marat Safin (Russia) beat Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-2 4-2 retired; 11-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-4 6-4.