Marat Safin hailed the arrival of tennis's new generation after snapping Andre Agassi's sensational 26-match unbeaten run at the Australian Open with an epic five-set semi-final victory.

The 24-year-old Russian will face either Wimbledon champion Roger Federer or French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in Sunday's final after drawing on immense depths of stamina and determination to beat Agassi, the defending champion, 7-6 (8/6) 7-6 (8/6) 5-7 1-6 6-3.

''They play great tennis. They have already won Grand Slam titles, they know how to be in a final, how to play,'' said Safin, who won the US Open in 2000.

''Hopefully you are going to see us for a few years more. This is it, this is the new generation.''

Safin's electric victory, which consisted of 33 aces, no double faults and 79 winners, ended Agassi's remarkable unbeaten run, which stretched back over three titles to 1999, when Vince Spadea knocked him out in four sets.

Had the 33-year-old won he would have equalled Roy Emerson's record for consecutive wins at the tournament, which has stood since 1969.

Perhaps tellingly, the American gave his traditional farewell bow, admitting afterwards he wanted to ensure his Australian fans received the appropriate farewell in case this was to prove his final Open Down Under.

Should that be the case, it could not be more fitting that Safin is back at the forefront of this new era.

In 2000 he stunned Pete Sampras in the US Open final, announcing himself as the new heavyweight of men's tennis. But the titles did not flow.

Safin was wrestling between his desperate desire for success on the court and his love of life off it. In 2002 he surrendered a one-set lead in the Australian Open final to Thomas Johansson.

Accompanied that year by a bevy of blondes, too much partying was deemed the reason for his failure after spending two weeks hot-footing it through the draw.

''I had problems with myself,'' he said last night, reflecting on the ''Old Marat''.

But Safin has proved these last two months he is now ready to show the commitment required to turn his immense talent into titles.

This attitude was born of a wretched 2003, when he spent long months out, camping and fishing, waiting for nerve and ligament damage to heal.

Sleeping under the Californian stars, Safin began to realise just what tennis meant to him.

He went on a tortuous month's training regime with fitness coach Walt Landers in Monte Carlo, warmed up at the Hopman Cup in Perth and has now survived a punishing 27 sets in six rounds over 18 hours, 49 minutes.

''I still don't know how I won,'' said Safin. ''I don't have the words to describe what I am feeling right now. To be on the same court as Andre Agassi and win the match in five sets after he came back from two sets down, that's great.

''I am barely standing right now. You try to give everything. I don't have anything inside of me right now but I have two days off and I hope I have a great match in the final.''

Despite his marathon win over world No1 Andy Roddick, the exuberant Russian was anything but sluggish. After three hours, six minutes of remarkable tennis, Agassi had rallied from two sets down to force a decider.

Each was playing incredible defensive tennis, scampering after every ball, chasing down every angled drive, forcing the other to draw ever deeper on their reserves of stamina and courage.

In his quarter-final, Safin lost the fourth set to Roddick and few imagined he could regather his thoughts for one final push.

The same happened last night and again he surprised, breaking Agassi for a 3-1 lead then, crucially, holding to love. Agassi could not reply and Safin sealed the win with a smooth backhand.

''I hope I'll still be playing at 33. He is a great sportsman, one hell of a player,'' said Safin.

Today will be an extra day off - his last one was spent at Melbourne Zoo - before the build-up to the final begins and tennis moves on with the new generation.

But last night was for a rewarding beer, just to prove the ''Old Marat'' is still alive.

''Of course. I deserve it, no?''

* Top seeds Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, long-time rivals and one-time room-mates, will contest an all-Belgian Australian Open final.

It will be the third time the pair have met in four Grand Slam finals - and Clijsters, having lost the last two, is gunning for revenge tomorrow.

She was beaten to the title by Henin-Hardenne at last year's French Open, again at the US Open and now hopes Melbourne will be ''third time lucky''.

Either way, there will be a new name etched on to the Daphne Akurst Trophy this weekend.

''It's just amazing. It's going to be another all-Belgium final. It's just something crazy for a little country,'' said Henin-Hardenne. ''We have to be conscious of it."

The pair grew up together on the junior circuits and roomed together at under-14s tournaments but are from very different backgrounds; Henin-Hardenne French, Clijsters Flemish.

They are not the best of friends; nor are they enemies, although in a year that Henin-Hardenne twice beat Clijsters in Grand Slam finals and twice replaced her as world number one, there was the odd moment of friction.

Henin-Hardenne was accused of feigning injury when they met at San Diego in August. Then after the US Open, Clijsters' father questioned how she had developed her physique so effectively.

The intimation Henin-Hardenne had used illegal substances was swiftly retracted, but it did little to quell the Belgian media's desire to build the pair up as arch-rivals.

But as Lleyton Hewitt's fiancee, Clijsters will also have more than her fair share of the support inside the Rod Laver Arena.

The Melbourne crowd, flat while Henin-Hardenne was beating Fabiola Zuluaga 6-2 6-2 yesterday, lifted when 'Aussie Kim' took the court, defied injury concerns and beat Patty Schnyder.

''To get to the final in Paris and the US Open was a great effort - but to get to the final here means a lot more to me,'' she said after her 6-2 7-6 (7/2) win.