Chile's 10th seed has been in unbelievable touch over his last four matches, blowing away 2005 finalist Lleyton Hewitt, fifth seed American James Blake, world number two Rafael Nadal and triple Australian semi-finalist Tommy Haas.

Federer has breezed through to his 11th slam final without shedding a set and is widely expected to successfully defend his Australian title and carry off his third crown at Melbourne Park.

But there is the chance that Gonzales, his game restructured by American coach Larry Stefanki, can defy the odds and win his first match against the incomparable Swiss in 10 meetings.

Federer rates Gonzales, armed with one of the fiercest forehands in men's tennis, as a bigger threat than Cypriot surprise package Marcos Baghdatis, who defied his 54th ranking to make last year's Australian final.

Gonzales is projected to climb to at least five on the next rankings by reaching his first Grand Slam final and has won so convincingly against four top-20 opponents that he has earned Federer's respect.

"I'm surprised to see Fernando in the final," Federer said Saturday.

"Not anything against him, but I thought that (Nikolay) Davydenko or Nadal would have come through in the end. They ended up both losing at the same time.

"I had it last year really. I thought Marcos (Baghdatis) was never going to make the finals. He beat all these great players. I ended up playing against a player that I'm a huge favorite.

"This time around maybe I'm not that big of a favorite because Fernando has a very good ranking, whereas Marcos, he was quite low ranked back then.

"I think it's great to see a new face on a big stage for a change again.

"This year it's Fernando. The only thing is he doesn't have all those great five-setters like Marcos had.

"He just came through and put everybody away right away. I think it's going to be a fun final for sure."

Federer is on the threshold of more tennis milestones should he overturn Gonzales.

He will join American Bill Tilden as joint fifth all-time Grand Slam title leader with 10 behind Pete Sampras's 14.

The mercurial Swiss has already equalled Australian Jack Crawford's all-time record for seven consecutive Grand Slam final appearances and could become the 14th player to successfully defende his Australian championship.

Federer is also bidding to become only the fourth man to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set, the last being Bjorn Borg at the 1980 French Open.

Gonzales may never have beaten Federer but he sees Sunday's final as a new opportunity.

"Roger is the number one by far but on Sunday we only have to play one match, there's only one match left in this tournament" he said.

"I've lost many times to him but I am playing much better than the last time I played him. In tennis you always have a new opportunity and I have a really nice opportunity now.

"I'm playing the most important match in my life and he's the best player of the last many years. He's winning all the time. He has to lose sometime."