It is the final that everyone expected from the outset. With due respect to the men who stand in the way of this showdown - Marat Safin, Arnaud Clement and Rainer Schuettler - we will surely be watching part three of what will be a long-running Federer - Nadal Wimbledon saga.
Both players have been in scintillating form so far. They have made light of tricky draws, cruising past dangerous players such as Lleyton Hewitt, Mario Ancic, Ernests Gulbis, Nicolas Kiefer, Mikhail Youzhny and Andy Murray with ease. Their contrasting styles - Federer’s feline grace and Nadal’s brute power - have been showcased, yet neither has been forced to play their best tennis.
Both were in top form in last year’s final. A five set, 3 hour 45 minute epic, it was one of the great Wimbledon matches. Nadal pushed the champion to the limit, missing two chances to break in the decisive fifth set. The contest ebbed and flowed and it easy to expect something similar this year.
There is certainly every reason to think that it will again be close. The Spaniard has again improved his grass court game, with his serve now a major weapon, whilst the champion has answered critics who suggest he is past his best. The bout of glandular fever and high-profile defeats that blighted his early season are long forgotten; Federer loves the grass of Wimbledon and it will need a special performance for him to be beaten.
Nadal is capable of producing such a performance. His straight sets hammering of the Swiss master in the French open final proved his high octane game to be in good order and prompted some to suggest he holds a psychological advantage going into a Wimbledon showdown.
This ignores Federer’s grass court supremacy between the two. Analysing head-to-head records is therefore open to interpretation and we will never know how much the players think about previous meetings.
However, memories from previous clashes would seem to lift Nadal rather than Federer. Since last year’s final they have met four times, with Nadal winning three times and Federer once. All of the Mallorcan’s wins were on clay, including the Roland Garros trouncing.
The pair’s overall record reads 11 wins for Nadal and six for Federer. Nine of Nadal’s wins were on clay, so Federer has won five of their seven meetings on hard and grass courts. Followers of both players will therefore find solace in their previous meetings.
It says everything about the quality of these two players that whatever the outcome on Sunday, it will not be a surprise. Federer said of his title last year that he was ‘happy with every one I get before he takes them all!’ Words said in jest, but the message is clear - Federer knows that any future Wimbledon titles will be well-earned.
