Roger Federer has continued his procession through the Wimbledon men's single draw with a straight-sets victory over the unseeded Marat Safin in the first of today's semi-finals.

Federer, the No 1 seed, will meet the winner of the semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Rainer Schuttler in the final on Sunday after he extended his unbeaten record on grass to 65 matches with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory.

The Swiss always looked in control of the match, racing into a 3-0 lead after breaking Safin's serve at the first attempt. The Russian was struggling from that point on, and Federer took the first set in just 25 minutes.

Safin had chances to break in the second set, but Federer had an answer to escape from a number of difficult situations. The second set was decided by a tie-break, which Federer never looked like losing. The Swiss raced into a 5-1 lead, before taking it 7-3.

Federer went up another level in the third set, when the five-time defending champion toyed with the Russian, who was never able to get challenge the world No 1's serve.

"It's great," Federer said. "It's a beautiful feeling to get the opportunity to win the title here. It means so much to me. Playing against Safin is always a pleasure and it's a great win for me. I'm really really happy."

Asked if today's victory at Wimbledon would mean more to him then any of his previous five titles, Federer said: "The first one was more important than this."

Federer came into the tournament on the back of some unprecedented criticism following his defeat by Nadal in the French Open final, which the world No 1 admits surprised by him. "I was a little bit surprised how intense it was," he said.

"But it was because Rafa played so well in Paris and then winning Queen's ... he's been playing fantastically. Don't write me off too quickly because this is my part of the season now."