:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46715240/usa-today-8687831.0.jpg)
Serena Williams is the women's singles champion at Wimbledon, and the men's champion will be crowned on Sunday. It's the best possible matchup we could have hoped for in the final. Top seed Novak Djokovic is set to face second seed Roger Federer, following a couple of thoroughly exciting semifinal matchups.
Federer just wrapped up a dominant win over the tournament's No. 3 seed, Andy Murray, in the semifinals. That match was an instant classic, and was as good as a straight-set match can be given the level of shotmaking and technical skill on display. Murray placed hardly a step out of line in that match, firing on all cylinders and making shots that would put most players away.
But Federer's shots were better, as good as they've ever been despite his age. For every incredible return Murray made, Federer was there to put a shot just on the edge of the boundary lines. Calls were constantly challenged because they were so close. The way Federer played in that match would have put any opponent away. But can he do it again against Djokovic?
He fell short of doing that in this same place last year. Djokovic and Federer met in the 2014 final, and Djokovic edged out a five-set victory to win his second Wimbledon title and his seventh Grand Slam overall. But if we're going to look over their total history, there's no obvious choice to go with here. They've played a total of 39 times to this point, and it's been incredibly even over the years.
Federer has the head-to-head edge at 20-19, they've split their last two matches against each other and are 6-6 in Grand Slam matches as well. Trying to determine what's going to happen in this match based on their history is futile. So how are they both looking right now?
As noted above, Federer just put on an amazing display against Murray in the semifinals. He's dropped just one set all tournament, losing out to Sam Groth in one set in the third round. But he took down No. 12 seed Gilles Simon in the quarterfinals, bested Roberto Bautista Agut and handled a tough opener against Sam Querrey. He's nearly 34 years old and he's looking as good as he ever has.
But Djokovic is also playing some of the best tennis of his career. He looked good in the opening rounds against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Bernard Tomic, but his dominance over Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals was possibly his most impressive matchup. He also beat Richard Gasquet in the semifinals and looked just as good doing it there. His one stumble came against Kevin Anderson in the fourth round, when he was forced to five sets in that one.
If ww look strictly at the play in this year's tournament, then Federer has to have the edge. He's been nearly flawless at times. A strong serve will go a long way in this one, and Federer has been superior in that vein thus far. This is must-see tennis either way.
Sunday's final will get underway at 9 a.m. ET. Television coverage will be provided by ESPN, with a livestream available at WatchESPN. There will be an encore broadcast by ABC at 3 p.m.
★★★
SB Nation presents: Serena Williams is the greatest American athlete of our time