WIMBLEDON, England – There is predictable tension preceding today's sixth Grand Slam showdown between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and it's been palpable for a couple of days.
Federer, seeking his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title, has been overselling his confidence level like a man who is surrounded by doubters.
Nadal, meanwhile, has gone almost into a shell. The usual smiles are gone. No small talk when you pass him on the grounds. No lengthy interviews coming off the practice courts. He's has the look and feel of a man who knows he is facing the most Herculean task of his young career.
It all happens at 2 p.m. today (6 a.m. PDT). Or does it? A lot of rain is forecast for Wimbledon, a chilly reminder that no matter how dry this fortnight has been, the elements are a constant threat. Tournament officials already have warned there could be a Monday finish.
It is no easy task to forecast the outcome of this final with two men who have now drawn nearly equal in ability, no matter what the surface.
Nadal has won three finals in a row from Federer on the red clay at the French Open, while Federer's edge is his five-year lease on Centre Court at Wimbledon.
Still, there is a gathering consensus, based on Nadal's spectacular play through six rounds, that he now has conquered the nuances of grass-court play and that his superior ground-stroking and physical strength will be enough to overcome Federer's great serving and general magic.
Federer, too, has played brilliant tennis through six rounds, having not lost a set while being broken only twice.
But his unsettlingly one-sided loss to Nadal in the French Open final, in which he won just four games, lingers on, suggesting that the man on the Wimbledon throne is teetering.
Federer has thrown compliments at Nadal, and Nadal has returned the graciousness, but there is tension, too.
For instance, when Federer griped yesterday about Nadal's slow play when preparing to serve and suggested the umpire should charge a point penalty instead of giving a warning, Nadal, when told, snarled, “Everybody is free to say what they want. I'm not one for to say if it's true or not. We have an umpire to decide what's happen on court, no?”
