Federer downs Ferrer

The Swiss, bidding for a record sixth title at the Tour finale, needed the best part of an hour to take the opening set off one of the most tenacious competitors in tennis, but was untroubled after breaking through early in the second.

Federer will face the winner of the other semi-final between French powerhouse Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Czech Tomas Berdych in Sunday's final. Should he win the title he would pocket the £1 million jackpot bonus for being an undefeated champion.

Ferrer held back the tide for nearly 90 minutes but was powerless to prevent a 12th defeat out of 12 against Federer, who won without needing to scale the heights he managed in his thrashing of Rafael Nadal in midweek.

Federer on Sunday will face the winner of the other semi-final between French powerhouse Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Czech Tomas Berdych. It will be Federer's 100th ATP Tour final -- only four players have reached more finals in the sport's history.

The Swiss, one of the game's most prolific record-setters, will become the first player to win the season-ending title six times should he prevail -- edging ahead of the five he shares with Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl.

"It's obviously going to be a special occasion for me tomorrow, playing my 100th final, possibly winning my 70th, winning my sixth at the World Tour Finals," Federer said after stretching his winning streak to 16.

Federer's 806th victory on tour, the same as his boyhood idol Stefan Edberg, will not go down as one of his classics.

He made 29 unforced errors and struck four winners from the back of the court, but his B game was still too good for world number five Ferrer.

Ferrer went into the match with a 0-11 record against the 16-times grand slam champion and though he kept pace with the Swiss in the first set there was a feeling that he was merely staving off the inevitable.

The Spaniard had a glimmer of a chance at 4-5 in the opening set when Federer eventually held serve after five deuces, although he never had to save a set point.

Federer then played a brilliant point to reach 15-40 on the Ferrer serve in the next game and he converted his second point when his opponent went wide with a forehand.

He served out the set with ease and then pounced right at the start of the second set to take complete control.

That single break proved enough as he completed a routine victory in one hour 25 minutes.

"Obviously it was a key 5-4 game for me to hold and then break the next game, then actually break again early on in the second set," Federer said. "That was a crucial 15, 20 minutes for me. I'm happy I was able to decide the match right there."

Of all the statistics and records available, one of the most significant was that by reaching the final Federer will return to number three in the world, above Andy Murray -- notice that, with a new season just weeks away, Federer is back on the up.