Marat Safin set up a Wimbledon showdown with Roger Federer as the volatile Russian reached his first Grand Slam semifinal for three years with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 victory over Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday.

Safin looked in danger of imploding when he was given a warning for ball abuse and dropped the first set, but he kept his cool to brush aside the Spanish 31st seed.

Three years after beating Federer in Melbourne en route to winning the Australian Open, Safin, ranked now at 75, is back within touching distance of a major final.

Despite his resurgence, Safin will be a heavy underdog against Federer, who beat him at Wimbledon last year and has yet to drop a set in this year's tournament as he goes for a sixth successive title.

But he climbed the sixth highest mountain in the world in Nepal last year, so even taking on Federer won't seem an impossible task.

"I was too nervous to play good tennis at the beginning and had to calm down," Safin said.

"I started a bit nervous because I had never beaten him in a big tournament and he's a very difficult player who was full of confidence, but I got a lucky break and that made a difference.

"I want to believe I'm back. I have gone up a few steps in the rankings, back in the top 50, which is great. No matter what I do against Roger it has been a great two weeks."

Safin destroyed world number three Novak Djokovic in the second round and, playing with renewed confidence after that victory, he has now swept aside three more seeds.

After rain delayed the match by almost an hour, the players were rushed onto Court One and Safin seemed to be unsettled by the quick start.

He was broken early and his notoriously fragile temperament took just five games to surface when the Russian pounded his racquet into the turf after missing a forehand.

The 28-year-old received a warning from the umpire soon after for smashing a ball high into the stands before rain brought a two-hour interruption.

The break allowed Safin to cool down but Lopez easily held serve after the resumption to take the set.

After a break for each man early in the second set, Safin was given a lifeline when Lopez, serving at 5-6 down, tamely netted a backhand on set point to level the match.

A scrappy third set went with serve all the way to a tie-break. It was Safin who found enough momentum to take it, aided by several errors from the increasingly out of sorts Lopez.

That was the turning point as Safin scented victory. He went for the kill and broke for a 2-1 lead in the fourth set. Another break followed and Safin was soon celebrating a shock place in the semifinal.

AFP