"I was like, yeah right, " Federer said. "We haven't gone that far yet. It's not only me watching, it's everybody so you just want to go somewhere. When stuff like this comes up I'd rather make the comment myself than somebody else does it."

It made Roger feel slightly hot under the collar of his bespoke cream jacket which in a very short space of time, given the speed with which he has condemned his opponents to an early shower, is destined for a place in the swish new museum here. The jacket's over-embroidered crest includes three rackets for his Wimbledon hat-trick but by this evening the odds are that this will be out of date: new jacket please.

McEnroe and his compatriot Jimmy Connors, both former streetfighters, say Federer may be the best player the world has ever seen.

One question dominates the championships: how on earth, or grass, do you beat him? Cue embarrassing silence. Attack him, the experts say, quickly adding that it is easier said than done. If you stay back he'll destroy you, if you go to the net he'll pass you. Tracy Austin said the only way Federer could lose is if he was in a car crash, without suggesting that anybody should go so far as to tamper with his brakes.

In reaching his fourth successive final the man from Basle has made everything look so ridiculously easy. He hasn't dropped a set. Rafael Nadal, by contrast, has been working his socks off. A nitpicker would say that, under pressure and on clay, which is Nadal's best surface, Federer's backhand is slightly suspect. On grass it looks lethal.

It's not healthy for tennis if Federer does to the game what Michael Schumacher did to Formula One, dominating year after year. It becomes, well, boring. It is why most people are hoping that Nadal, gives the Swiss ace a run for his money today.

Federer does not need an advantage. There are no weaknesses on court so he must have an Achilles heel off it? Maybe all this attention is getting to him. After that victory over Mario Ancic here he said: "It was an incredible performance. It was so good, you know." Did you hit some shots that surprised you? "Yeah, plenty."

From anybody else it would sound rather too smug. But if Federer has an enemy or a critic they are very thin on the ground. The worst that can be said of him is that he is the only Wimbledon champion with four Rs and four Es in his name. He handles press conferences better than a politician and returns questions, any questions, in style and in four languages. Just like his play on court.