BJORN BORG was in Wimbledon's Royal Box yesterday, looking down on the man who's going to have a crack at equalling his record of five men's singles titles in a row this afternoon. The Swede probably wouldn't have been blown away by Roger Federer's dismantling of Richard Gasquet yesterday . . . he was consistent rather than brilliant on a sun-soaked Centre Court . . . and there's little doubt he'll need to play a good deal better if he's to beat Rafael Nadal in today's mouth-watering men's final.

But in fairness, he only needed to be consistent against the Frenchman, who looked more than a tad weary on court. Gasquet, remember, had just 15 and a half hours to recover from his Friday night five-set quarterfinal victory over Andy Roddick, a near-impossible task when you consider that he was up against the world's most complete tennis player and that most factory workers get longer rests between shifts.

While the cocky Frenchman appeared to pick up where he left off for the guts of a competitive first set, Federer clinically broke his serve at 5-5 and served out comfortably to win the set. "I thought he was playing well enough to bring it to a tiebreak and possibly even win the set, " said the Swiss player after, "but I played very well for ten minutes for some reason and that was important."

From there, the dye was effectively cast, with Federer, as we've mentioned, only upping his game and producing his killer repertoire when absolutely needed. He was aided somewhat by Gasquet's dodgy ankle, which required treatment at the start of the third set, but Federer didn't show any mercy, winning out 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

At the very same time that Federer was finishing off his opponent on Centre Court, Nadal was benefiting from the retirement of Novak Djokavic through injury. The Serb, whose previous two matches had lasted a total of nine arduous hours, received treatment for a foot injury early in the second set and at one set all and 4-1 down in the third, he decided to call it a day.

"I am sorry for him, " said Nadal. "He was playing some very good tennis, it's tough for him. The good thing for me is that now I arrive in good physical shape for the final, which I didn't think would be the case."

With Federer also looking in prime physical nick, we appear to be set for something special.

WIMBLEDON: MEN'S FINAL ROGER FEDERER v RAFAEL NADAL All England Lawn Tennis Club, 2.00 TG4, 2.00, BBC One, 1.30