"He's an artist on this surface. He can stay back. He can come in. No weaknesses," said Borg, whose Wimbledon run was from 1976-80. "I believe if he continues the way he's doing and stays away from injuries and has the motivation, he'll be the greatest player ever to play the game."

And those words were spoken before Borg watched Federer's latest virtuoso performance from the front row in the Royal Box in jacket and tie.

Federer also dressed formally for the occasion, sporting his tailor-made, five-piece Gatsby getup, from the white dinner jacket with the gold "RF" on the left breast pocket to the white slacks replete with belt loops. Even his shoes were special, with four tiny red circles patterned after the Swiss flag, each marking a year he won a Wimbledon title. A fifth circle needs to be added now.

Still, just when it looked as if Federer might turn the sunny afternoon into a coronation by taking a 3-0 lead, Nadal won the next three games. Just when it looked as if Nadal might be in charge, breezing through the fourth set, Federer broke twice in a row to end the match.

Each did what he does best — and managed to show a flair for his foe's fortes.

Nadal is terrific at the baseline, forcing opponents to hit great groundstroke after great groundstroke just to win a single point. Yet there was Federer, hanging in there on the longest of rallies; he won half the points that lasted at least 10 strokes. Federer believes he's the best server around, yet it was Nadal who kept producing easy hold after easy hold.

"I tried to play as aggressive as possible," Nadal said.

In the first set, he played serve-and-volley on one point, as if to say, "See, I can do that, too." And Federer conjured up a cross-court forehand passing shot on the run, as if to reply, "Yeah, well, I can do THAT, too."

Because of all the rain that jumbled the schedule and sapped some of the tournament's energy, Nadal was playing on a seventh consecutive day. His right knee was treated during the fourth set, but he said that wasn't a factor.

"Tired? No, no. Not tired," said Nadal's uncle and coach, Toni. "He played the first four sets completely even. Even."

Federer has won 34 matches in a row at Wimbledon, and this was the first to go five sets. He's played in 13 Grand Slam finals, and this was the first to go five sets.

And he was growing frustrated, both by Nadal's relentless play and by what appeared, to Federer, to be questionable rulings by the instant replay system making its Wimbledon debut. After one call in Nadal's favor, Federer cursed in disbelief.

"It's killing me today," Federer told the chair umpire.