London (AFP)

Sixteen years after his first title at Wimbledon, stainless Roger Federer has the opportunity in the final of the London tournament Sunday (15h / 13h GMT) against the world No.1 Novak Djokovic to register a little more his name in the history.

The challenge is huge against the Serb, he has not beaten for seven years in Grand Slam. But legends can not be written without sweat or without great battles.

By age 38, an age when most other players have already begun their second part of life, Roger Federer continues to push the limits of the impossible and the age of retirement.

At 37 years and 340 days, the holder of the number of victories in the major tournaments (20) will also become the second oldest player to play in a Grand Slam final, preceded by Ken Roswall, the Australian champion of the 60s -70.

Another era. One of those many statistics and records that the Swiss, which is 101 matches won at Wimbledon, extends each tournament.

- Eternity -

In the semifinal against Nadal on Friday, in one of the blockbusters of the year, the Swiss illuminated the Central, winner of the 40th "Fedal" after a majestic match (7-6, 1-6 , 6-3, 6-4), taking revenge a month after losing to the Spaniard at Roland Garros.

This victory inevitably fueled a crazy dream, to see him raise the trophy for the ninth time at the All England Club, his 21st Grand Slam title, synonymous with eternity. He has earned the right to believe in it and to offer himself this opportunity, inevitably one of his last ...

But the way to eternity is not simple. Because the Swiss faces another legend: Novak Djokovic, a wall, a cold monster efficiency. With Nadal, this is another historical rivalry that has punctuated the Swiss career for almost twelve years: the two have met on 47 occasions and, for now, the Serb leads 25 to 22. And the trend of their last years is not going at all in the sense of Federer.

Switzerland has not beaten + Djoko + for seven years in Grand Slam. It was also in London, in the semifinals. He has never beaten either the Serb in a Grand Slam final for 12 years (US Open 2007). And the other two times their roads crossed over the English turf at the 2014 and 2015 finals, the Swiss lost.

For four years, they have faced only three times (Australian Open 2016, Cincinnati 2018 and Paris-Bercy 2018). And again, Federer never won.

- "The stars are aligned" -

"It's a rock, it's not N.1 world for nothing," said Federer before the final. A rock at 15 throws Grand Slam that says loud and clear its ambitions to come tickle the Master in the history books.

"I want to mark the history of this sport," repeated the Serbian, four-time winner at Wimbledon, after his semifinal win against Bautista Agut. "I played Roger some epic finals here a few years ago, I know what to expect, I'm going to fight and give it all, it's a final at Wimbledon, that's the kind of match that I dreamed when I was young. "

Strangely, this history rather frankly unfavorable to Federer did not crush the Swiss, bursting with confidence after his victory in the semifinals.

"We played so much against each other, the game plan is clear, that's why I managed to get that result today, I've had a really solid year, I won at Halle ... Stars are lined up right now, I can approach this game with a lot of confidence, "he said.

For now, only one player has managed to beat Nadal and Djokovic in a Grand Slam: it is Stan Wawrinka in 2014 at the Australian Open. Another Swiss, a little more illustrious, has the opportunity to succeed him ...

© 2019 AFP