World number one Roger Federer will have to overcome Rafael Nadal for the third successive year if he is to win a sixth consecutive Wimbledon title.

The champion is expected to face his toughest test in Nadal and Federer to meet again in Wimbledon final ...
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Supreme Federer crushes Gicquel ... six unbeaten years at Wimbledon when he faces world number two Nadal on Centre Court at 1400 BST.

Federer, 26, may have beaten Nadal, 22, in the last two finals, but the Spaniard has improved rapidly on grass.

And he could have the mental edge after thrashing Federer in Paris last month.

The one thing that could disrupt a potentially classic final is the weather, with forecasts suggesting rain will play its part on Sunday.

In recent weeks, nothing else has been able to derail Nadal.

He lost just four games against Federer at Roland Garros and carried that form into the grass-court season, taking his first title on the surface at Queen's Club and powering through the draw at Wimbledon.

"That final is out of the picture. I hardly remember anything of it," insisted Federer. "Paris was sort of a disappointment, in terms of living up to the expectations, but that happens sometimes.

"For me it's obviously important to sort of bounce back from that loss, even though I'm not going to draw anything out of that match because Rafa plays so different on clay and grass.

"He plays so much closer to the baseline that I have to draw from my two previous Wimbledon finals."

And Nadal, too, was keen to play down his most recent win over Federer.

"I think it's a totally different court, different surface," said the Spaniard. "Everything is different. I think it doesn't matter. I prefer to have the victory, but I don't think it will be important for Sunday."

Federer has had a disappointing season after suffering a bout of glandular fever at the turn of the year, losing his Australian Open title to Novak Djokovic in January and picking up just two minor titles in the first six months of 2008.

But the Swiss has looked back to his best at the All England Club, storming into the final without dropping a set as he bids to break Bjorn Borg's modern-day record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles.

The only man to win six in a row was Willie Renshaw in the 1880s, and he had to win only one match to defend his titles.

Nadal is also looking to match Borg as the first man since the Swede in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon back to back.

The 22-year-old has an 11-6 record against Federer in head-to-head meetings but the matches have gone very much along the expected lines, with Nadal winning nine of their 10 meetings on clay and Federer winning both matches on grass.

"I enjoy the challenge," said Federer, who has won 65 straight matches on grass since 2002.

"I mean, Rafa is a great competitor. The thing is, I've played him so often on clay, it's more of an advantage for him in the head-to-heads."

Nadal, however, appears to be bridging the gap on grass better than Federer is on clay.

Two years ago, the Spaniard lost in four sets in the Wimbledon final, while last year he lost in five and had early break points in the fifth set.

And although Federer will remain the world number one whatever the result, the final is being viewed by many as tennis's version of a world heavyweight title fight.

"I think if Nadal wins the French and Wimbledon, then in everybody's mind he's the number one in the world," said former champion and BBC analyst Boris Becker.

Nadal, as ever, was keen to deflect such pressure.

"If I win the title on Sunday, on Monday I will continue to be the number two," he said. "I'm going to have more chances to be number one in the next months."

With Federer's faltering form during the early part of this year, many believe that Nadal should be considered the favourite on Sunday, despite facing a five-time defending champion.

"I don't think it matters really a lot if I'm the favourite or not," said Federer. "I'm on an incredible winning streak on grass.

"First somebody has to be able to break that before we start talking differently."

The one person who will not countenance talk of a Federer slump is Nadal himself.

"I think for me he's the best of the history," said Nadal. "I don't know if he's the best on grass because Sampras has seven. He has five - hopefully not six this year.

"So he has to win two more times to be at the same level as Sampras here on this surface. But in general I think he is the best."

And the world number one has no plans to hand over his Wimbledon title without a fight, and is already looking ahead to more battles to come later in the year.

"Let's see what happens now the rest of the season, because I think this is maybe my favourite part of the season," said Federer.

"Trying to win Wimbledon and US Open back to back, and we got the Olympics stuck in it as well. So it's a huge, huge possibility for both, for any players right now."

(BBC)

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