Federer making perfect progress

Just one more victory on grass and Roger Federer will own the keys to immortality.

The five-times Wimbledon champion recorded his 65th consecutive triumph on his favourite surface to saunter into his sixth straight Wimbledon final with a 6-3 7-6 6-4 win against Marat Safin which was little short of perfection.

Now for Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final and a player at least guaranteed to make Federer shed a bead of sweat.

Federer, seemingly bored with swatting opponents at a tournament which for him so far has been routine, is relishing the challenge of avenging his straight-sets butchering by Nadal in the French Open final in May and becoming the first man in the Open era to win six straight Wimbledon singles titles.

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."

"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 of a problem."

So easy has been Federer's route to Sunday's final, however, that his biggest opponent has been boredom.

Not one set lost this tournament. Not one tough match. Not a hint of a challenge to his superiority on grass.

The only thing in danger of being broken in one hour and 41 minutes of tennis as routine as it gets in a grand slam semi-final - Federer's 17th consecutive semi - was the courtside chair which Safin whacked with his racquet in sheer frustration after the penultimate game to collect a code violation from umpire Lars Graff.

Federer admitted: "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."

Federer broke Safin's first serve of the match and his last and in between was barely required to play anywhere near his best tennis.

He even had the time and confidence to play one shot between his legs and another behind his back.

And while Federer's volleying was not flawless his serve was silky, his groundstrokes precise, while Safin, who slayed Pete Sampras in straight sets in the 2000 US Open, demonstrated why he has slipped to a world ranking of 75.

Wayward was one word for Safin's forehand. Wild was perhaps closer, especially in the second game when he relinquished his serve cheaply with shots which missed the baseline by yards more than feet.

That is what Federer does to opponents. Puts them outside their comfort zone. Makes them hurry. Makes them miss.

The crowd were desperate to get behind Safin, hoping to see the first competitive match involving Federer this Wimbledon.

And while Safin forced Federer to save two break points in the fourth game of the second set the Russian