WIMBLEDON, England -- Now Roger Federer gets Rafael Nadal on his turf.
With a performance he deemed flawless, three-time Wimbledon champion Federer won the most lopsided men's semifinal in tournament history, beating Jonas Bjorkman 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 on Friday.
Top-ranked Federer's reward?
A championship match Sunday against No. 2 Nadal, who got past No. 18 Marcos Baghdatis 6-1, 7-5, 6-3 to extend his surprising run at the All England Club.
Federer is 0-4 against Nadal in 2006, 55-0 against everyone else. But three of the losses came on clay, including in last month's French Open final, and they've never met on grass -- where Federer has won a record 47 consecutive matches, including 27 at Wimbledon.
"He is the best on all surfaces," Nadal said, "but here more."
That's for sure. Federer will try to join Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras as the only men since World War I to win four straight Wimbledon titles.
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Roger Federer wins the most lopsided men's semifinal in Wimbledon's current format. (Getty Images) |
Nadal stands in the way.
"I know I can beat him," said Federer, who's won seven major titles. "I don't need to think of playing against him. I need to focus on me playing on grass, my style, playing aggressive. It's going to be easier on grass to do that than on clay."
Clay is slower, grass is slicker, and each make different demands on footwork and shotmaking. That's why it's so rare for players to succeed on both: No man has won the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back since Borg did it in 1978-80.
And it's been 54 years since the same two men met in the finals of these two Grand Slam tournaments.
This is how big-time rivalries are born.
"They're very close. They're the two best players in the world at the moment," said Baghdatis, who lost to Federer in the Australian Open final. "You cannot say one is the best -- you have to take both of them."
