Nadal goes into his second All England Club final in a row buoyed by a career 8-4 record over Federer and having been handed an easy passage into the final when Novak Djokovic was forced to retire from their semifinal with an injury in the third set.

Federer, bidding to emulate Bjorn Borg by winning five Wimbledons in a row, brushed past French 12th seed Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in his semifinal.

Victory on Sunday will be his 11th Grand Slam title and leave him just three short of Pete Sampras's record of 14.

"A lot of things have changed in the last year," said Nadal who took a set off Federer in the 2006 final before going down to defeat.

"I am playing much better then last season but he is the favourite. I will come to the match determined to play aggressively and I will believe I can win."

Nadal, bidding to become the first Spaniard to win the men's singles title since Manolo Santana in 1966, praised Federer.

"He has all the shots and controls the speed of the ball," said the world number two.

"There are many things I have to improve on for Sunday, like my slice and volley. But I am just 21 years old."

Djokovic, who had been suffering with a sore back and required on-court treatment for a blister on his toe in Saturday's semifinal, had been on court for nine hours in his previous two matches against Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis.

But after requiring treatment on his back during those matches as well, the 20-year-old Serb was not even sure on Saturday morning if he would be able to start the semifinal.

All seemed well as he took the first set but his movement became increasingly restricted in the second and he finally called a halt with Nadal lead 3-6, 6-1, 4-1.

On Centre Court, Borg, who set his five-in-a-row mark from 1976-1980, was on hand to see Federer edge closer to his record.

"I was thinking Gasquet was going to put me under pressure and play well but I was ready for that," said Federer who will be playing in his ninth consecutive Grand Slam final on Sunday.

"He should have got to a tiebreak in the first set and maybe even had won it. But I'm happy to be in another final."

Federer said he was not surprised that Djokovic had been forced to default.

"I saw him in the locker room before the match and I knew it was going to be difficult for him," said the champion.

"Having to hang in there with Rafa was always going to be difficult for him."

Gasquet, playing in his first Grand Slam semi-final, had come back from two sets down to defeat former runner-up Andy Roddick in a marathon last eight clash on Friday.

Just 16 hours later, the 21-year-old was back on court to face the top seed.

He showed no signs of fatigue in a closely contested opening set and even had two break points in the 11th game.

Federer saved them both and made his opponent pay for his generosity by taking the first set in the next game when Gasquet dumped a backhand volley into the net.

The champion broke to go 2-0 ahead in the second set and then served a love-game to hammer home his advantage at 3-0. He was quickly two sets in front with another love service game as the tie began to slip away from Gasquet whose problems were compounded by requiring treatment on his left ankle during the changeover.

Federer broke to lead 4-3 in the third set with a screaming down-the-line backhand and then moved to 5-3 on serve.

Gasquet clung on to trail 4-5 but the Swiss master wrapped up the tie with a pinpoint forehand in the 10th game after 1hr 44min of one-sided action.