By Kamakshi Tandon

R. Federer (SUI) [1] vs. R. Nadal (ESP) [2]Centre Court – 2:00 pm>> Head-to-head

So here we go again – Federer vs. Nadal for the second Grand Slam final in a row and the second Wimbledon final in a row. If Federer had won their French Open encounter last month, he would be trying to complete the third leg of the Grand Slam. But the fact that he isn’t doesn’t mean the pressure is any less: he’s going for an iconic fifth Wimbledon title in a row.

Nadal, meanwhile, is trying to achieve something that’s almost as rare – the French-Wimbledon double.

These two have played 12 times, so there are few secrets left. Federer says he can’t see much difference between Nadal last year and this year, but many feel the Spaniard is more aggressive now, trying to cut down the amount of wear-and-tear on his body.

The downside for Nadal is that his spinning forehand won’t bounce as high to Federer’s backhand as it did at the French, when Nadal was able to wear down his Swiss rival with crosscourt rally after crosscourt rally off that wing. But he will get a boost on the serve and shouldn’t face as many breakpoints as he did during the final in Paris either.

With reasonably good weather expected, Nadal should find the grass slow enough to get a good rhythm going and will look to grind Federer down as he’s done eight times in the past.

Federer can take solace in the fact that on grass it’s easier for him to get balls in his strike zone and easier to get them past his speedy opponent. His serve has been fairly solid during the tournament so far, and he’ll need it to be working well so he isn’t too threatened in his service games and can focus on putting the pressure on Nadal. Last year, he came into the final having lost his last five matches against the Spaniard. This year, he’s won three of the last five.

Neither should be especially exhausted – both their semifinals lasted about an hour and a half, and Nadal only played two and a half sets before Novak Djokovic (who had played nine hours in the previous two days) gave up a futile effort. But Nadal has played one more match and spent about 6 more hours on court than Federer. Still, no one can say he hasn’t had time to get into a groove.

It should be a battle.

Prediction: Federer