Federer Treads Water But the Bigger Fish Lurk to Challenge Champion

Every hero becomes a bore at last, observed Emerson - not Roy, who won 12 grand slam titles, including two Wimbledons, but Ralph Waldo, who was probably a duffer at tennis but understood a thing or two about human nature. Emerson never saw Roger Federer play tennis but even if he had it is doubtful whether the famous essayist and orator would have changed his mind.

There are a number of reasons why Federer might not win a record sixth successive Wimbledon title in a week's time, and first and foremost among them is the awesome figure of Rafael Nadal, whose pirate ship is bearing down on the champion's leisure yacht.

Another reason is Federer's vulnerability - or at least his perceived vulnerability - after a dose of glandular fever. He has been beaten eight times this year. He was defeated by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open. He has also been seen off by Andy Roddick, for the first time in five years, by Mardy Fish, Radek Stepanek, Britain's own Andy Murray and, three times, by Nadal.

But there is also something else afoot here. It is almost as if we get bored with epochs. We are excited by the notion of change, the thrill of the new. There is a whiff of coronation fever in the south-west London air. It is why, daftly, cars and houses and even spouses are changed every few years for something not necessarily better but ... different.

Federer's survival or otherwise as champion of the All England Club is something beyond our control. That is something that is up to him and the players he meets. But it is almost as if people are craving for a new order of things. Yesterday he won his 62nd consecutive match on grass and, at 26, there is no reason to suppose he is not still at his peak. The biggest question is how deeply Nadal has penetrated his psyche.

Federer's performances leading up to the final are largely meaningless. He was not at his best yesterday, which is not to say he was ever troubled in the course of his 81-minute, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory over France's Marc Gicquel on Center Court which set up a last-16 meeting with Lleyton Hewitt. The most dramatic thing about this match was the apocalyptic nature of the thunder and scudding dark clouds which, in the last games of the final set, appeared to bring some urgency and sharp focus to the Swiss player's game.

Gicquel, aged 31 and ranked 53 in the world, is the last journeyman player Federer will meet in these Championships. He has a booming serve and a strong forehand but little else to trouble the leading players, so it was a surprise when he broke the champion in the opening game of the match. Federer broke back immediately and did so again to go 5-3 up before wrapping up the set in 32 minutes. The Swiss took a 2-0 lead in the second set and when the Frenchman held serve to win the third game of that set it was the first time in the match that he did not have to survive break points to do so.

Federer looked unassailable after an hour's play, when he was two sets up. But he had rarely been at his best. It was only in the last set, which he knocked off in 20 minutes, that he was his old, nonchalantly destructive self and the famous forehand was unrolled.

Afterwards he explained why Wimbledon is his favorite tournament. "It's very slow. It's just very easy here. We stay in a house; we don't stay in a hotel. It's the only tournament throughout the year that I do that. I just can't get stuck in traffic for two hours. I'm not in the mood for that.

"It's nice to slow down without having a big city around you. But, obviously, you've got London right in front of you which is, you know, a great city. I'll probably enjoy the weekend with some city action."

And his tennis? "I'm happy with the way I'm playing. Today was a very solid match. The conditions weren't easy, with lots of wind. I played a good match today."

Whether that is strictly true or not, it is up to Federer, perhaps the greatest champion of them all, to determine when and how he goes. Not us.