updated 4:09 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2006

MELBOURNE, Australia - Top-ranked Roger Federer will be on one side of the net, a 20-year-old from Cyprus will be on the other in Sunday’s Australian Open final.

While Federer was expected to be in position to win his seventh Grand Slam title, 54th-ranked Marcos Baghdatis is a most unexpected opponent.

Federer ran into a few problems during his run through the draw, but Baghdatis became everyone’s problem in his half as he upset No. 2 Andy Roddick in the fourth round and No. 4 David Nalbandian in Thursday’s semifinals in a five-setter.

Federer powered his way into the final with a four-set win Friday over Nicolas Kiefer, and is an overwhelming favorite to take out fan favorite Baghdatis.

For now, Baghdatis is enjoying the ride.

“Everything was going in, I was just in my own world I think,” Baghdatis said after his 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Nalbandian. “It was crazy, the atmosphere was amazing.”

That’s been a familiar refrain over the past 10 days for Baghdatis, especially after his upset of Roddick. Legions of Greek fans have supported him here, his homeland is rooting him on and his cell phone that used to only ring sporadically has been turned off — even blocking out a congratulatory call from the Cypriot president.

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His parents, thought to be arriving for the final, have now decided to stay in Cyprus even though they were offered an all-expenses-paid trip down under. Baghdatis’ mother, Androulla, said “I don’t want to put an extra burden on Marcos. He knows we are there beside him (in spirit) anyway.”

Baghdatis’ brother, 27-year-old Petros, was expected to attend and represent the family.

Federer has won all three matches against Baghdatis, including a straight-sets victory two weeks ago while the Swiss player was defending his Qatar title. They also met in the U.S. Open’s second round in 2004, where Federer won in straight sets, and in the fourth round here last year, where Federer needed four sets to win.

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Federer has a big career edge in prize money — $20 million to $392,000; and in tournament victories, 34-0.

Baghdatis will not be taken lightly, though.

“Everybody’s talking about the young guns coming up and not really about Marcos,” Federer said. “Thank God I’ve played him three times, it makes me relax a little bit.”

Federer saw some parallels between himself and Baghdatis, the 2003 junior world champion.

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“I was also No. 1 junior back in 1998 ... it took me some time to get up in rankings,” Federer said.

He said he was nervous going into his match against Kiefer.

“I just had a sort of strange feeling, not a negative one,” Federer said. “I knew how close I was to another Grand Slam, and worked so hard to get there. To lose in the semis would be a big disappointment.”

He said he knows Baghdatis has “improved incredibly” in the past two weeks.

“I think we are all surprised he got so far,” Federer said. “He proved us all wrong. He beat quality players and he deserves to be in the final.”

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