General / Editor / 21 April 2007 /

Roger Federer is through to the final of the Monte Carlo Masters with a straight sets victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The world number one lost his serve to the Spaniard early in the first set but showed his class to reel off five successive games and claim the opener.

An early break in the second was all that was required for the Swiss ace and he served out for a 6-3 6-4 victory and a place in the final.

Clay is Ferrero's best surface and Federer was relieved to have moved past a man who has secured the one major prize yet to appear on the Federer CV.

"I'm very happy to go through because Ferrero is such a good claycourt player," he said.

"He has won the French Open, which is a feat I have yet to achieve. So I had to be very careful."

The vociferous Monaco crowd had to be spoken to by the umpire on a couple of occasions during the match but Ferrero admitted that it made no difference to the outcome of the match.

"It did not bother me," he said. "I had enough to worry about with Federer."

Rafael Nadal, who has never been beaten by the 10-time Grand Slam champion on clay, is favourite to take the tournament at 1.54 with Federer on offer at 2.8.

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