Roger Federer approached Andre Agassi after their Australian Open quarter-final mismatch and said he hopes to play him again.

Agassi replied "that makes one of us".

That Agassi's famed love of a contest had been doused by Federer's 6-3 6-4 6-4 win spoke volumes for how the Swiss's extraordinary run of results was crushing the spirit of his 'rivals'.

Rivals do not come more challenging than Agassi at Melbourne Park - with the Las Vegan having won four titles here.

But Federer's progression to a semi-final meeting with Marat Safin brought up two mind-boggling statistics - his 26th straight tour win and his 24th consecutive victory against a top 10 player.

Given his form, few would bet against him successfully defending his Open crown and perhaps even breaking Guillermo Vilas' 27-year-old record of 46 straight tour wins.

As impressive as Federer's form run has been, it has an unfortunate tendency of creating anti-climaxes out of even the most promising match.

The encounter was a bout that needed no hyperbole - the undisputed champion of the world against history's best counter-puncher, striving to clinch a final grand slam title as time rapidly runs out on his storied career.

It began promisingly enough until Federer broke midway through the first set and took a stranglehold on the match that he never gave a hint of relinquishing.

The pattern of the match was set in the service games, with Federer sending down 22 aces to Agassi's one - a statistic of some significance given that the Swiss won 20 more points than his opponent for the match.

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