]MELBOURNE: A tearful Roger Federer claimed his seventh Grand Slam title on Sunday, overcoming an early challenge from unseeded Marcos Baghdatis to win the Australian Open 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.

Federer's experience under pressure showed as the top-ranked Swiss star stepped up his game and won 11 straight games from 5-5 in the second set.

The 24-year-old Federer won the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles last year. He will try to win his fourth straight major later this year on clay at the French Open — the only Grand Slam event he has never won.

Federer broke down in tears and repeatedly had to take time to gather himself after he got the champion's trophy from Rod Laver, the last man to sweep all four Grand Slam events in the same year, in 1969.

"I guess it's all coming out now," Federer said. "I've had some hard speeches, but this one is a little rough right now."

He thanked Laver, his voice breaking one last time, then embraced the 67-year-old Australian.After the match ended, "I was so happy," he said. "Then I had to go up on stage and speak. This is really too much for me sometimes. It's just a dream come true every time I win a Grand Slam."

Dream comes true for Baghdatis too

Baghdatis' rowdy fans, who grew in number as he knocked off second-seeded Andy Roddick, No. 4 David Nalbandian and two other seeded players in the tournament, couldn't help the Cypriot rally this time.

Despite the loss, Baghdatis said his dream had come true, too, just by reaching the final.

"It's just amazing," he said after playfully shushing his cheering fans. "I love everybody watching in Cyprus. Kisses."

Federer is drawing comparisons to Pete Sampras, who won 14 Grand Slam events in his career and was the last man to win three consecutive majors.

Their birthdays are four days apart, and they won their seventh Grand Slam titles at the same age.With a boisterous atmosphere more akin to a World Cup soccer final, a buzz permeated Rod Laver Arena well before the match started: Could Baghdatis really knock off the man dominating the men's tour?

It looked improbable at best. Federer had won all three of their previous matches, including earlier this month in Doha.

But Baghdatis made believers of the crowd for a while.

`Go Marcus, You Rule'

It was a perfect night for tennis after two weeks of occasionally unbearable heat and sudden storms. While there were plenty of red-and-white Swiss flags scattered around the stadium, the dominant colours were Greek blue and white. Signs of "Go Marcos, You Rule" were mixed with "We Luv You Federer."

Baghdatis' backers chanted between points, giving chair umpire Pascal Maria a real challenge to maintain control. One man, in a traditional Greek outfit, danced on his chair.

As in Baghdatis' earlier matches the Cypriot was nerveless early, shaking off errors with stinging baseline winners.

In fact, it was the normally implacable Federer who blinked first. Serving at 5-5 in the first set, he fended off two break points before committing back-to-back forehand errors — the latter after he halted his service motion when a fan shouted, "Settle, Roger, settle!"

He broke Federer again to start the second set and had two break opportunities to go up 3-0 before Federer fought back to level at 3-3.

Bagdhatis, a former junior world champion, had three game points at 5-6 to force a tiebreaker, but Federer rallied to break on a Baghdatis forehand that was ruled just long. The Cypriot, who questions calls infrequently, did this time. But TV replays showed the ruling was correct.

Federer ran off 27 of the 37 points in the third set to take control.

Wear and tear

Baghdatis had played two consecutive five-setters and three overall in the tournament, and the wear and tear started to show. He suffered a cramp in his left calf in the second game of the fourth set, and the brilliant winners came less often as the errors piled up. He won his 11th consecutive game to go up 3-0 in the final set. — AP

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