Roger Federer is surfing a wave of support as he prepares for his Wimbledon 2015 final showdown with Novak Djokovic 

• Novak Djokovic was reeling after losing French Open final last month
• French fans backed Serbian but Wimbledon be behind Roger Federer
• Swiss star faces Djokovic in repeat of last year's final on Centre Court
• World No 1 Djokovic came out on top in five sets 12 months ago 

By Mike Dickson for The Mail on Sunday

Published: 16:31 EST, 11 July 2015 | Updated: 18:13 EST, 11 July 2015

Novak Djokovic could not blink back the tears after he missed out on the French Open title five weeks ago and the Roland Garros crowd saluted him on the podium.

Not always the most sympathetic audience, the remarkable outpouring of goodwill deeply moved the world No 1, who craves winning the French Open and completing his collection of Grand Slam titles.

Wimbledon’s Centre Court tends to be a more impartial arena, but on Sunday there is only one person the vast majority will be cheering for — and it is not the 28 year-old Serb.

Roger Federer celebrating his victory over Andy Murray that secured his passage to the Wimbledon final

Federer beat the British No 1 in the semi-final on Friday in straight sets 7-5 7-5 6-4 

Novak Djokovic celebrating after beating Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the semi-final on Friday

Djokovic also won his semi-final in straight sets on Centre Court at SW19

Roger Federer rides a wave of global popularity and that only seems to grow as he gets closer to his tennis dotage. Not that there was any sign of old age in his remarkable take-down of Andy Murray on Friday evening.

The crowd might be more of a factor on Sunday, because Djokovic has not always reacted positively to being the less favoured of the two players. It can both irk him and have a somewhat subduing effect — and there is no gravitational pull of willing him to a first title here as he already has two of them.

Despite what happened on Friday, Father Time is an opponent that will one day topple the Swiss, and at nearly 34 their Grand Slam showdown is not too far away. As Federer said: ‘People might not know how many more opportunities I’m going to have, so they’re going to be emotionally attached to me maybe more as well, as they were to Andre Agassi at the end of his career and other players. Of course, I appreciate that.’

For all of his renaissance in the past 12 months, Federer has still not won a Major since his triumph over Murray in 2012. It is remarkable he is still in contention three years later and, with a little more composure, he would have won the five-set epic against Djokovic in last year’s final.

Djokovic (right) is consoled by Stanislas Wawrinka after the Swiss won the French Open final last month

The Serbian world No 1 poses with the runner-up trophy of the one Grand Slam he is yet to win

Swiss superstar Federer in training at Wimbledon on Saturday as he prepared for the final

The World No 2 hit on the practice courts as he prepared for the rematch with Djokovic

Djokovic was also out hitting at Wimbledon on Saturday as he prepared for the Centre Court showdown

Djokovic in the background as he takes some advice from his coach Boris Becker

‘I don’t really think about the match we played against each other last year. I just remember it was unbelievably thrilling. The crowd really got into it,’ said Federer, doubtless hoping they do so again. Of Djokovic he said: ‘He’s become very match tough. He always shows up. It’s tough to beat him, he’s been very injury free. He’s been good for the game.’

The latter compliment is a typical touch of Federer public relations, especially as this grass-court season began with the publication of Boris Becker’s book. That suggested, among other things, that these two do not much like each other, and that Federer sometimes says things to gild his image.

Again there is a battle by proxy in the coach’s boxes, with Becker’s old rival Stefan Edberg having instilled a renewed purpose in the Swiss since coming on board 18 months ago.

Unless Federer reproduces the stratospheric level of serving seen against Murray you have to favour Djokovic, but he will also have to control his emotions before a partisan assembly.

‘It’s the most important match that any tennis player can have,’ he said. ‘I’m going to get myself prepared for whatever is awaiting me on the court. It’s not the first time that I’ll experience this particular feeling. I’m going to try to use the experience from the last final in order to get myself in the right state of mind. It was a very important match for me to win last year in the Wimbledon final because I’ve lost quite a few Grand Slam finals.

‘To win that match in five sets against Roger on grass was definitely something that gave me a lot of confidence.’

Most of the time here Djokovic has been calm, although he struggled to control his temper — never that far beneath the surface — in his tense five-set win over Kevin Anderson in the fourth round. It was then that he screamed ‘Towel!’ aggressively at a ballgirl, and he will have been embarrassed about it.

Djokovic celebrating his five-set victory over Federer in the 2014 Wimbledon final

Djokovic beat seven-time champion Federer to lift the famous cup himself for the second time

Federer sat dismayed in his chair after being edged out by Djokovic and losing in the final for the second time

Much is made of how jealously Federer guards his image but Djokovic has worked very hard at presenting a statesmanlike front, to the point where his public utterances are incessantly emollient and corporate.

It has brought him such endorsements as Peugeot, and reflects how conscious he has been of attracting less public interest than the likes of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Murray, despite having established himself as a better player.

The contrary thing is that Djokovic, highly intelligent, perhaps has the most extrovert personality of all of them, and can be both articulate and amusing in the five languages he speaks.

But on Sunday it will be about what happens between the lines, and Federer will use the blueprint that worked on Murray and which also worked against Djokovic earlier this year. In the final of the Dubai Championships back in February, played on a very quick hard court, Federer over-ran the Serb and made himself one of only three players to have beaten Djokovic this year (the others are monster server Ivo Karlovic and Stan Wawrinka).

When it comes to Grand Slams the two of them are tied at six-all, and the Swiss will be heartened by his opponent’s record in Major finals — won three, lost eight — outside Australia.

This, their 40th meeting in all, will depend much on whether Federer truly believes that at his advanced age he can follow up beating the world No3 by doing the same to the world No 1 within 48 hours.

Comments (27)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now