© AFP / C De Souza

Rafael Nadal was the man with a 6-1 career record against the Swiss. He could beat Federer, of that there was no doubt. You want to know why the word ‘pressure’ is applied in sport? Today’s scenario in the men’s final encapsulated it. Yet Federer the great rose to the occasion once more.

“I’m very well aware how important this match was for me,” said a relieved champion. “If I lost, obviously it would have been a hard blow for me. He would win the French and Wimbledon back to back, with me in each final. Losing the French alone already hurt, but that was still a great tournament for me.

“But it was important for me to win a final against him for a change, and beat him. I knew Wimbledon would be the place for me to do it the easiest way. It turned out to be tough and it shows how much he’s improved. But maybe here I had the pressure he had at the French Open. I tried to break his claycourt streak there. He tried to break my grasscourt streak here. It was tough to play one another again.

“When we play so often in finals, it adds something to the game. He’s up-and-coming. I used to be the youngster. Now I’m sort of getting older. But it’s a great rivalry.”

Remembering to stop and smell the roses is not a problem for Federer. While others are already speaking of making it five in a row in 2007, the Swiss was content to live in the moment.

“I don’t have my sights on number five already, no,” he said emphatically. “I’m looking forward to next year of course, but this was a very tough match for me. Just to come through another year is an incredible feeling.”

The fact is that, extraordinary as it may seem, Federer had doubts as to whether he could win this fourth crown. Moreover, his doubts were not so much late in the tournament – when others noticed the improvement in Nadal’s grasscourt tennis and wondered if he could be a threat – but early on.

“It came from the loss in Paris, through to Halle, even though I thought I played pretty good there, and then I looked at the draw here,” he explained. “Everyone was talking about Bjorn Borg’s grasscourt winning streak [which Federer exceeded here]. I thought the draw looked like the streak might come to an end very soon – not because I might play bad, but because I had really dangerous opponents. These things go through your head. I didn’t think once that I might hold the trophy again. That only came once I beat Mario Ancic in the quarter-finals.”

So what was it like, that liquid moment when he knew that the title was his again?

“Disbelief,” he said frankly. “You just can’t believe you did it again. A great feeling. I was really anxious to go and hold that trophy again.”

But Nadal did deny Federer one landmark – the chance to become the first champion since Bjorn Borg in 1976 to lift the golden Challenge Cup without conceding so much as a set. Was Federer a little disappointed?

“Not really, no,” he smiled, adding helpfully: “As long as I don’t lose three, it’s okay.”

Federer losing three sets on grass? We should all live so long.