WIMBLEDON'S organisers couldn't have planned it any better.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, the No 1 and No 2 tennis players in the world rankings throughout the last 12 months, have consolidated those claims this fortnight. When they renew acquaintances on Centre Court today, it promises to be every bit as absorbing as last year's men's singles final, when the Serb got the better of five tight sets, winning 6-4 in the fifth.

The only thing they couldn't sort was the weather. If the forecasts are to be believed, the 2015 final will take place under the roof. While Djokovic will attempt to rain on the parade once again, a Federer win might just be sufficient to blow it off. There will be no neutrality in this corner of south-west London when it comes to the simmering power struggle between the Swiss against the Serb.

One of these days, the Wimbledon championships will get started and everyone will realise that Federer isn't here. Over the last 17 years, ever since he took the boys' title back in 1998, the 33-year-old has become as much a part of the staple diet of SW19 as strawberries and cream.

His affinity with his surroundings here, which has harvested seven Wimbledon titles, shows no signs of fading, at least on the strength of his near-flawless semi-final performance against Andy Murray, and now all that remains unclear is how much longer he still has at the top.

Bjorn Borg, who retired at the age of 26 with 11 Grand Slam titles to his name, reckons the Swiss will sign out next year, after the Olympics in Rio. Others are convinced that victory today - stretching his record for Grand Slam wins to 18 - could precipitate a grand announcement.

However, with some of his epochal rivals, such as Rafael Nadal, losing ground, his own reshaped serve and volley tactics bedding in, and medical science advancing fast, there seems little reason for Federer - apart from the need to spend more time with his two sets of twins - to retire and plenty to continue.

It is all a far cry from the crisis of confidence which followed defeats here to Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals in 2010 and 2011, as well as the uncharacteristic second-round defeat to Serhiy Stakhovsky in 2013. The 33-year-old has had plenty of premature obituaries written about his career but said that proving people wrong has never provided his motivation.

"It doesn't matter what they think really," Federer said. "I know what I'm trying to achieve. I actually forget the negativity of the rest.

"I don't quite remember how it's all felt over the years. But clearly this tournament has given me so much. It is the same with the crowds. I guess my game translates very well to this surface. It might be the moving part, the serve, the half volleys, I don't know. I'm just able to figure it out very quickly on the grass. But I'm sure there's going to be many great players in the future. The game is bigger than any athletes we've ever had. It really is."

While Federer is loved, Djokovic is merely feared. Once again, the Serb will settle into his apparently well- established role of being the grinding enemy on the other side of the net. It was certainly a task he lived up to when ending Nadal's run as the King of Roland Garros, even if the world No 1 was ultimately ambushed by Stan Wawrinka in the final.

This will be the 40th meeting between these two players - only the Serb and Nadal have played each other in the Open Era - and their third Grand Slam final. The overall tally stands tantalisingly at 20-19 in the favour of the Swiss, who has never been behind in the overall head-to-head.

Even since last year's Wimbledon showdown, the pair have battled five times, on four of those occasions in finals, with the Serb winning three. So while some believe Murray versus Djokovic is the defining battle in men's tennis right now, in reality this is the match-up of the moment.

"It's great to play Novak anywhere these days, because he's a great player," Federer said. "He's had unbelievable success, throughout his career. But especially the last few years, because he's been unbelievably dominant, especially on the hard courts, then he improved on the grass. On the clay, he's one of the best, if not the best.

"He's become very match tough. He always shows up. It's hard to beat him. He's been injury-free and he's been good for the game. For me, 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. I'm just happy personally that I'm back in a final. That is against Novak, the world No 1, it obviously adds something extra."

While there are patterns of play in this match-up which seem to suit Federer, perhaps the part of this game which most favours Djokovic is the mental side. While he required massage for a shoulder problem during his quarter-final, the Serb's steely, relentless approach has been intensified still further by coach Boris Becker, the German who hopes for a second Wimbledon win by proxy 30 years on from his maiden, victorious appearance here as a 17-year-old. Since 2011, Djokovic has reached three Grand Slam finals each year apart from 2013, when he made just two.

"Since Boris came to our team last year, obviously for me it's a pleasure to have a legend of our sport next to me who is mentoring me and giving me advice to be better," Djokovic said. "It's about the mental approach - especially in the later stages of Grand Slams when things are getting tougher from every point of view. That is where I think his contribution is the biggest to me and to the team."

If Federer can serve the way he did against Murray, though, all the mental fortitude in the world wouldn't do his opponent much good. In the first set alone, the Swiss got 85 per cent of his first serves in play, delivering no fewer than 11 aces and always seeming to hit chalk dust.

Yet, even the Federer serve, likened yesterday to footballer Lionel Messi in full flow, can go awry. The Swiss said: "It could be great for the first two service games, then, next thing you know, you have a bad service game, or the other guy picks the right sides, and connects well.

"The serve is only as good as your baseline game after it as well, how well you cover the rest. I don't serve at 140mph, let's be honest. I have to work my way through those service games."

Whatever happens tomorrow Djokovic will still be No 1 and Federer the No 2 player in the world. But SW19 will awake today quietly hoping and praying for one of its favoured sons to serve up a fairytale.