"I needed that break, and God gave it to me," said Safin, who was trailing Tommy Haas 2-1 in sets Friday when the rain came, giving him a 50-minute rest while the stadium roof was closed.

After a massage and some coaching in the locker room, Safin came back for a 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (6-4), 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 semifinal victory. Haas won 11 points in the fourth set after the rain.

Without the rain, "I had no chance to win," said the ninth-seeded Safin, who ousted Pete Sampras in the fourth round.

"I was lucky, believe me."

Safin said his legs were dragging in the 95-degree heat against Haas before the rain delay.

"I couldn't do anything. I couldn't move," the Russian said. But when play resumed, Safin added, "I served well and I did the right things."

More 90-degree heat is forecast for the final, with a chance of rain.

"I hope it will rain again," Safin said.

He wasn't worried that Johansson, who won his semifinal against Jiri Novak on Thursday night, had an extra day to rest.

Johansson, seeded 16th, had never advanced past the fourth round of a Grand Slam event.

"I'm a little bit of an underdog," Johansson said, even before he knew who his final opponent would be.

Although Safin said the rain saved him, Haas was starting to feel fatigue in his legs, too. "I don't think the break helped me much," he said.

"When I came back out on court, I just kind of had to start over a little bit and he came out on fire. It just didn't go my way after that. I was hoping in the fifth set maybe to boost it up again a little bit mentally ... but my legs were not there anymore."

Safin's legs should have been fresher. He needed 28 minutes to win his quarterfinal Wednesday when Wayne Ferreira pulled out with an abdominal strain. Haas played four sets to beat Marcelo Rios.

During the rain delay, which stretched the match to 4 hours, 28 minutes, Safin said he received advice from Amit Naor, a former player from Israel, and another friend. His coach, Mats Wilander, did not make the trip.

"They explained to me very simply what I have to do," he said. "I started to return the serve, to read it better. I did exactly what they said."

Coaching is banned while a player is on court, but there is no rule against getting advice in the locker room.

After beating Sampras to win the U.S. Open in 2000, Safin struggled early last year with injuries. He reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the semifinals at the U.S. Open in 2001 before losing to Sampras.

In 19 previous Grand Slam tournaments, Haas had been past the fourth round only once, when he reached the Australian Open semifinals in 1999.

DOUBLE UP: Doubles winners Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis temporarily ended their partnership in late 2000, but the Russian and Swiss stars are on the best of terms now. "Obviously, I do learn a lot from her. She's a great champion and it's just really great and nice that we get along so well and that we make such a good team," Kournikova said. "I just have lots of respect for her." Seeded eighth, the two beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1. Hingis and Kournikova also won the title in 1999. Reports said the breakup after an exhibition match in Chile in December 2000 was bitter. Kournikova said a month later that the breakup resulted in some tears.

SMASHING SHOT: Haas and Safin each broke a racket in Safin's victory and received a code violation. A spectator wound up with Haas's broken racket after he tossed it underarm into the stands. "It was broken, so it is really (of) no use to play anymore," Haas said. "But I made a fan happy, so that's okay." After he dropped serve during the second set, Safin smashed his record on the court so hard that the racket's head folded over.

KING'S APPRAISAL: Billie Jean King paid tribute to Pat Rafter after he was selected Australian of the year during a ceremony in Sydney. Widely respected for his sportsmanship, the Australian won the U.S. Open twice and was runner-up at Wimbledon twice. King praised Rafter for the speech he made in accepting the award from Governor General Peter Hollingworth. Rafter paid tribute to thousands of volunteers who helped fight recent brushfires in Australia. "He gave a very sweet, very moving speech. It was very sincere," King said in Melbourne. "He ended up so appropriately, in that he really thanked the firefighters. ... Pat left that for the end because he probably thought deep down they deserve it over him. That's just why he's such a class act, he just gets it."

NOT EXPECTED: Johansson said he didn't have high expectations at the start of the tournament. Asked what he would have said had someone told him before the tournament that he'd reach the final, the Swede said he would have replied they "should go and see a doctor." The Swede, who referred to himself earlier in the tournament as "not very interesting," faced only two seeded players on his way to the final. They were No. 21 Younes El Aynaoui and the man he beat in the semifinals, No. 26 Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic. "I'm really surprised, because the way I've been playing before this tournament, I didn't expect much," he said.

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