Switzerland's Roger Federer hits a return against compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka during their men's singles semi-final match on day 11 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2017. (AFP / SAEED KHAN)
Melbourne: Roger Federer came out on top of a five-set thriller against his fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka at the Australian Open on Thursday to become the oldest Grand Slam finalist in 43 years.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion saw off the world number four 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 in three hours and five minutes and will face Rafael Nadal or Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday's final.
It will be 35-year-old Federer's sixth Australian Open final and 28th Grand Slam decider in total, and caps a marvellous comeback after the second half of last season was ruined by a knee injury.
The four-time Australian Open champion becomes the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam final since Australia's Ken Rosewall (39 years 310 days) at the 1974 US Open.
It improved Federer's five-set record to 26-20 and it was the first time the Swiss legend has beaten three top-10 opponents en route to a Grand Slam final, after his earlier wins over Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori.
In an enthralling contest, Federer won the opening two sets before Wawrinka clawed back to take the semi-final into a fifth, only for Federer to prevail with a service break in the sixth game.
"Yes, it is real now. I can talk about playing in finals for the first time," Federer said on court.
"I have been dodging that bullet for the last few days now talking about the next round and the next round but this is the last one.
"So I will leave it all out here in Australia and (even) if I cannot walk for another five months, I will give it all I have."
Federer said he felt the match was slipping away in the fourth set and he had to find a way to beat off Wawrinka's challenge.
"In the fifth, I just knew I had to find my energy again, play with intensity, be more aggressive, take the ball early, believe in myself, serve good, try not to get in too many tough moments early on, which then I did," Federer said.
"It was an awkward match. Always is against Stan, it was always never going to be easy. Especially how the third and fourth set went by because he had the upper hand from the baseline.
"I thought it was going to be tough in the fifth. He gave me a cheap break in the fifth. After that I never looked back."
Wawrinka, who beat Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open final, was bidding to reach his fourth Grand Slam final and his second in Melbourne.
Racquet smash
Wawrinka paid for a netted forehand in his sixth service game to drop the opening set in 50 minutes.
Wawrinka netted a backhand on break point in the sixth game of the second set and angrily smashed his racquet, receiving a code violation warning from the chair umpire.
The match turned quickly for Wawrinka as Federer raced to a two sets lead.
Wawrinka left the court for a medical timeout and returned to the court with tape around his right knee and hit back with two breaks to take the third set in just 26 minutes.
He broke again in the opening game of the fourth set with a backhand return winner, but Federer broke back quickly.
Wawrinka on his third break point in the ninth game he rifled a forehand cross-court winner to break, and then served out for a fifth set.
But Wawrinka faltered with a poor service game and a double-fault on double break point gifted Federer a match-winning 4-2 advantage.
Federer held his two remaining service games to win on the first of his three match points.
