CLOCKING UP his 21st birthday last weekend was one milestone for Rafael Nadal. He can attain another today by winning his 21st straight match at Roland Garros in the final of the French Open against Roger Federer to become champion for the third successive year.

The inevitability of a final everyone was expecting has not blunted the anticipation.

In men's tennis it doesn't get any better than Federer versus Nadal, number one against number two, righthander taking on a leftie.

Though Federer stressed that "you can't be nice any more" both men have boundless respect for the other and both were diplomatic enough to make the other one favourite to collect the first prize of Euro1m. The 25-year-old Swiss, with another record tucked into his pocket as the first man ever to contest eight successive Grand Slam finals (seven won, one lost), agrees this says something about his consistency, but points out, that "Nadal has already won this title twice, so I'd say he's the favourite. He also won 81 matches in a row and is number one on clay this year."

Only the delayed finish to that opinion - "so far" - indicated an intention to rearrange this state of affairs.

"Federer is an unbelievable player, so for that reason he is the favourite", is how Nadal puts it. "But to say he is the favourite, or I am, doesn't matter when we go out there. I know he's a better player than me because the numbers say so. He beat me in Hamburg the last time on clay, and he's also having a very good clay season - final here, final in Monte Carlo, champion in Hamburg. So I know it's going to be a very tough."

Victory for Federer would leave him in possession of all four major titles, and place him alongside five of the greats - Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Andre Agassi - as someone who has won every one of the Grand Slam tournaments.

Only Budge (1938) and Laver (1962 and 1969) have held all four in the calendar year and, should Federer prevail today, he will fancy his chances of retaining the Wimbledon and US Open titles he won last year.

Nadal, who has yet to lose a match here in three years, is the first since Jim Courier in 1993 to reach three consecutive finals. Courier, though, lost that third one. Until now, Bjorn Borg is the only man ever to win Roland Garros three straight times.

Nadal got to the final without losing a set and the man he beat in the semis, Novak Djokovic, set out Federer's task: "You've got to push him over the limits. You've got to play really great tennis and it's got to be your day."

Having lost to Nadal in the 2005 French semi-finals and the 2006 final, Federer is fully aware of the task. "Last year I came out of the blocks very fast but after that I couldn't handle him. I reached the 2006 final with a great deal of confidence, likewise this year.

The only difference is that this time I have defeated Rafa on clay in Hamburg, so maybe that will help me get on the right track.

"I'm going to fight like a lion, " says Nadal. "And I would be happy to have three cups at home rather than two."

FRENCH OPEN MEN'S FINAL ROGER FEDERER v RAFAEL NADAL Roland Garros, 4.00 Live, TG4, 1.55; BBC2, 4.00