IF Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were guilty of anything yesterday it was failing to improve on perfection. Wimbledon had waited 11 years for the next part of this almighty match-up between these two living legends of the sport and what they served up was a worthy successor to the series.

It will be squeezed out of the all-time lists by the fact it lasted four sets rather than five and had a total running time just over three hours but SW19 and the wider sporting world still stopped yesterday for what was a grown-up version of that 2008 final. A sort of Still Game, South West London style.

A lot, after all, has changed in the last eleven years. Not only does Wimbledon have two roofed show courts these days to put an end to those pesky rain delays, but the Mallorcan has thankfully grown out of his tank top and three quarter-length capri pants phase.

Where once they might have strained every sinew, both players – well into their 30s - rationed their efforts at times in order to avoid unnecessary strain on their bodies. At points, both were possibly serving TOO well, Federer’s 14 aces taking him top of the all-time lists here. But by the final game of the match, with Nadal saving four match points, and Federer timing strokes to all corners of the court, the action on show was up there with anything the world witnessed eleven years ago. And to think some were writing the Swiss off even in the wake of that match. He continues to make such predictions seem foolish with a 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win which sees him book a place in his 12th Wimbledon final. No-one else has more than seven.

Only their fourth meeting on these courts, it was fitting that David Attenborough should be in attendance to observe precisely how these two tennis titans had evolved over the years in their sporting survival of the fittest. Thirty-eight major titles between them already, they strode on court desperate to roll back the clock in pursuit of further Grand Slam glory, knowing they would also be measured against their former selves.

To say the opening stages were cagey was an understatement. A lesson in precision, staccato serving and aggressive net play from two men who are under doctors’ orders to keep points short, the first seven games went 15-0 and passed off with hardly a lengthy rally.

Promised one of the semi-finals of all time, spectators for a while feared they might not even get the best one of the day. Had they wandered into last year’s attritional Kevin Anderson-John Isner last four clash, or some tussle involving the likes of Michael Stich and Richard Krajicek from the days when the lawns of Wimbledon were slicker than the greens at Augusta National. On a day when the rival attraction was Neil Young and Bob Dylan playing a joint concert at Hyde Park, surely this wasn’t two diminished forces, merely re-hashing their greatest hits?

Thankfullly, we needn’t have worried. While Nadal had a break point to save in that first set, this match burst into life with a first set tie-break where the rallies ebbed and flowed as much as any in this 40-match series.

The Mallorcan, four years the younger man, found extra energy in those legs to chase down a drop volley, prodding a ball down the line for the mini-break at 0-1. The Spaniard had his nose in front again at 3-2 when a cross-court backhand landed plumb on the line - only for Federer to reel off the next five points in bravura fashion. As he gleefully slapped a forehand on set point into the open court, the court threw off any pretence of neutrality.

As befitting the Still Game comparison, one of the main protagonists wandered off for a lengthy toilet break, Nadal keeping Federer waiting for an age even after he returned. Whatever he told himself in there worked. Breaking the Federer serve to love, he had his nose in front at 3-1 before a double break put him on easy street. The set lost, there was the rare sight of the Swiss legend taking a page out of Nick Kyrgios’ book by sneaking in on serve to smash a half-hearted shot into the net, so determined was he not to squander any more energy.

This was becoming a classic, just not the best tennis match of all time. The third set went to Federer, playing with controlled aggression, keeping the mistakes to a minimum and crucially capitalising on one of the three break points which either men were able to generate.

Nadal, suddenly with no margin left for error, threw in an error-strewn service game and Federer just had to serve it out for a place in the final. Easier said than done when a man with 18 Grand Slams to his name is playing his best tennis of the match to save four match points. How this 37-year-old father of four leapt for joy like a teenager when a Nadal backhand flew long to give him Wimbledon final No 12.

“It is true that weren’t big rallies in the first set,” said Nadal. “A lot of free points for him. Then at the end of the match things were a little bit different. I felt better. But he played a little bit better than me. I had small chances, couple of ones but I wasn’t able to convert.”

“It lived up to the hype,” said Federer. “The climax at the end with the crazy last game, some tough rallies there. It had everything at the end. I’m just relieved it’s all over at this point. But it’s definitely, definitely going to go down as one of my favourite matches to look back at, again, because it’s Rafa, it’s at Wimbledon, and the crowds were into it. I can be very happy.”