The moody Russian, sulked, screamed and smashed his racket into a courtside chair en-route to lopsided defeat.

Those hoping for a repetition of Safin’s amazing victory from match point down over Federer in the semi-final of the 2005 Australian Open were deeply disappointed. The former world number one, now ranked 75th, was outclassed by a combination of Federer’s piercing serves and razor sharp returns.

Bloodied, not bruised

Rainer Schuettler, meanwhile, crumbled in the first set against Nadal. But the German snapped back to attention to streak into a 4-2 lead.

Nadal, who ended up with a bloodied knee after slipping and sliding, did not allow Schuettler to enjoy the moment for too long and wore down the 32-year-old with a barrage of spellbinding groundstrokes.

The pair will be the first to appear in three successive Wimbledon finals since Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg from 1988-1990.

“I’m very happy to be in the final again as Wimbledon is a very important tournament for me and I’ll try and play my best tennis on Sunday,” said Nadal, who has been the only man to stretch Federer to five sets during his five-year winning run on grass.

“I’m entering this final with very good confidence but I know I have on the other side of the net the very best player in the world.”