Nadal standing in Federer's path again

WIMBLEDON, England (AP):

Add up all of Roger Federer's greatness on grass courts and the numbers are striking: 40 wins in a row at Wimbledon, 65 overall on the surface.

Come Sunday he will seek an additional victory, a victory that would make him the first man since the 1880s to win six consecutive Wimbledon titles, a victory that would give him a 13th Grand Slam championship, one shy of Pete Sampras' career record. And a victory that would have to come against his only real rival in today's game, Rafael Nadal.

No. 1 Federer and No. 2 Nadal set up their third straight showdown in the Wimbledon final and sixth meeting in a major title match, by handily beating unseeded opponents yesterday.

One more left

Federer eliminated Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the first semi-final and Nadal defeated Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

"There's one more left," Federer said. "I don't think it matters really a lot if I'm the favourite or not. I'm on an incredible winning streak on grass. First somebody has to be able to break that before we start talking differently."

He reached his 16th Grand Slam final, tying him with Bjorn Borg for fourth most in history. Borg was the last man to win Wimbledon five years in a row. The only man with six successive titles was Willie Renshaw from 1881-86, but he merely needed to win one match in each of his five title defences because back then the reigning champion got a bye directly into the final.

Federer did plenty well, but he served impeccably. He smacked 14 aces, took 70 of 90 points in his service games and faced only two break points.

While he is only 6-11 against Nadal - 0-3 in French Open finals - over their careers, Federer does lead 5-2 in matches played on surfaces other than clay.

Nadal acknowledged: "I believe I can win, but I also know he's the favourite."

Nadal spoke of how a Wimbledon championship would change his career. He'll try again, just as he did each of the past two years, to beat Federer to become the first man since Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season.

"It doesn't matter at any tournament who you beat. It matters that you get to take the trophy home," Nadal said. "But beating Federer would be special."