Nadal provides test for Federer

5:59pm Saturday 5th July 2008

Roger Federer has admitted he faces one of the greatest challenges of his career to extend what he calls his "perfect" Wimbledon campaign for one more match and claim his record-breaking sixth title in a row.

Federer will go head to head with his great rival Rafael Nadal for the third successive year on final Sunday knowing victory will take him past Bjorn Borg's mark for consecutive title wins in the Open era, but he knows he faces a massive test against the Spaniard.

Federer said: "It's been the perfect way to the finals, but there's one more left. So far it's been quite unbelievable. I cannot do much better than this. I've just been playing consistently well. I wasn't pushed to the degree where I have to say I played my best tennis ever."

He added: "I enjoy the challenge. Rafa is a great competitor. He's got a winning record over me.

"Every time I play him I want to try to beat him. He's now become so good on other surfaces he's a real threat on everything."

Federer will head into the final adamant he has pushed last month's painful French Open loss to Nadal - when he picked up a mere four games - out of the picture.

And he is intent on producing a performance that will ensure this year's Wimbledon men's final will live up to its billing as potentially one of the finest the tournament has ever seen.

Federer added: "Paris was a disappointment in terms of living up to the expectations but that happens sometimes. For me it's obviously important to bounce back from that loss.

"Rafa has definitely had the best start to the season ever. He's been playing consistently well. His clay court season was phenomenal. But for me that final is out of the picture.

"We always hope we can live up to the expectations because by now we've had so many good matches against each other. It's hard to live up to them all the time."

Editor's Choice