Sporting Life - Wimbledon 2008

Roger Federer says his French Open hammering at the hands of Rafael Nadal will have no bearing on Sunday's Wimbledon rematch.

The five-time defending champion recorded his 65th consecutive triumph on grass on Friday to saunter into his sixth straight Wimbledon final with a 6-3 7-6 6-4 win against Marat Safin.

He will now face arch rival Nadal in the final for a third straight year, having won the previous two.

Many experts have suggested Nadal can finally end Federer's dominance of the tournament - especially as he handed the Swiss one of his heaviest ever defeats in Paris, winning 6-1 6-3 6-0 last month.

But Federer said: "I don't think it matters really a lot if I'm the favourite or not. I'm on an incredible winning streak on grass.

Challenge

"First, somebody has to be able to break that. Rafa is a great competitor. He's got a winning record over me. Every time I play him I want to beat him. He's now become so good on all surfaces that he's a real threat. I enjoy the challenge.

"That final (in Paris) is out of the picture. I hardly remember anything of it. It went so quickly. For me it's not really that big a problem."

Federer has yet to drop a set in SW19 this year and admitted he was relieved to get past the dangerous Safin with relative ease.

The world number one added: "He's always very fiery and it's a little dangerous because he gets the crowd involved. The momentum can shift, but thank God I've played him plenty of times and it's not going to worry me a lot.

"It's been pretty simple. I haven't had many problems whatsoever throughout the championships. A perfect way to the finals. It's been quite unbelievable, actually.

"It's a huge thrill every time when I get to another Wimbledon final."

Meanwhile, Safin said of Federer and Nadal: "They will be the greatest tennis players in history. Nadal didn't lose a match on clay since, I don't know, he was 10 maybe. And Federer, he's going for his sixth Wimbledon. He's definitely going to pass the 14 Grand Slams (Pete Sampras' record). I guess I can say to my kids that I played against him."