Roger Federer is nullifying stamina with elegance... all real sports fans want him to win Wimbledon final

• Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon final on Sunday
• The Swiss star defeated Andy Murray 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 to reach showpiece
• Federer is so far ahead of his rivals and anyone who has played the game

By Oliver Holt for the Mail on Sunday

Published: 16:30 EST, 11 July 2015 | Updated: 18:34 EST, 11 July 2015

A funny thing happened in the court of the King of Tennis on Friday night. A journalist piped up from the back of the room. ‘Talk us through that unbelievable shot in the final set,’ he said to Roger Federer. For a second, Federer looked puzzled. He didn’t say ‘Which one?’ but he could have done.

Everybody laughed. Federer smiled. ‘The backhand?’ he said, eventually. Yes, the backhand, we all wanted to shout. A backhand that was the sweetest touch of genius in a match full of Federer’s mastery.

A shot most of us have rarely seen before, a shot that dispatched a drive-volley from Andy Murray back past him, a winner delivered not so much with a swing of the backhand but a nonchalant flick, the impossible made possible.

Roger Federer was mesmerising in his victory over Andy Murray on Friday to reach the Wimbledon final

Federer looked focused during practice on Saturday ahead of Sunday's showpiece against Novak Djokovic

Federer was in stunning form to beat Murray 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 and produced a number of impressive shots

Federer (left) shakes hands with Murray at the net after the Swiss star booked his place in Sunday's final

That backhand was another reminder why the best ticket in sport is not at the Nou Camp or the Sydney Cricket Ground. It is not at the Maracana and nor is it at Fenway Park. The best ticket in sport is anywhere you can watch Federer play.

It has been that way for the past decade or more. Roll up and watch a man whose style and grace is so far ahead of his rivals, so far ahead of anyone who has ever played the game, that you do not just admire him, you wonder at him.

Maybe somewhere, he keeps a picture of himself in an attic, corrupted, hideous and decayed, because there was also a magnificent agelessness about him in his destruction of Murray.

Federer is supposed to have been overtaken by the gym rats and the musclemen, the men who awe us with their stamina and their shot-making. But he is still nullifying stamina with elegance. That is why the Centre Court crowd will be cheering for Federer on Sunday. He has already won the men’s singles title at Wimbledon seven times and with others that might give rise to suggestions of monotony. It is not that way with Federer.

No one means it as a sign of disrespect to Novak Djokovic but most people who love sport will be hoping Federer makes it a record eight on Sunday afternoon.

Federer hits a shot as coach Stefan Edberg watches on at the All England Lawn Tennis club on Saturday

Most sport lovers will be hoping Federer beats Djokovic (pictured) to clinch his eighth Wimbledon title

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