Roger vs. Rafa III, coming soon to a grass court near London.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are headed to Centre Court for their third straight Wimbledon final, with one trying to extend his amazing winning streak on grass and the other attempting to win his first Grand Slam title on a surface other than clay.

"It's a huge thrill every time when I get to another Wimbledon final," said 12-time major champion Federer, who stretched his winning streak at the All England Club to 40, a run that includes the last five Wimbledon titles. "It's a great occasion."

oth Federer and four-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal easily advanced through the semifinals Friday. Federer outplayed Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-4 with a nearly flawless performance, and Nadal later defeated Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 7-6 (3) 6-4.

In Sunday's final, Nadal will be trying to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same year, while Federer will be trying to surpass Borg by winning a sixth straight Wimbledon title.

The only man to win six in a row was Willie Renshaw in the 1880s, and he had to win only one match to defend his titles.

"He was in the finals every time, so it was a little bit easier for him to win six in a row," said Federer, who has won 65 straight matches on grass. "A little different for us."

On Saturday, Venus and Serena Williams will play in their third Wimbledon final, but first since 2003. Venus is a four-time champion at the All England Club, but she lost to younger sister Serena in both the 2002 and '03 finals.

The Williams sisters will also play for the women's doubles title, joining forces to face Lisa Raymond of the United States and Samantha Stosur of Australia in the final.

Federer has beaten Nadal in the last two Wimbledon finals, but the second-ranked Spaniard made it close last year, pushing the match to five sets before finally succumbing.

Nadal may have humbled Federer in last month's French Open, winning 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 for his third straight final victory over Federer at Roland Garros, but he doesn't necessarily think that makes him the favorite Sunday.

"Right now, I know have on the other side of the net the best player of the world — Roger Federer — but I will try my best and we will see," said the Spaniard, who is on a 23-match winning streak. "I feel I have to play very well if I want to have chances to win. I know he's playing well, but I'm playing well, too."

Nadal has a 11-6 career edge over Federer, but the top-ranked Swiss star leads 5-2 on surfaces other than clay.

"I enjoy the challenge," Federer said. "Rafa is a great competitor. He's got a winning record over me. Every time I play him, I want to beat him. He's now become so good on all the other surfaces that he's a real threat on anything."

Federer, who advanced to his 16th Grand Slam final, never lost serve against Safin and showed again why he is considered one of the greatest grass-court players. He beat Safin for the ninth time in 11 matches, and hasn't dropped a set at Wimbledon this year.

"Everybody makes the same mistakes, everybody — except Nadal," Safin said. "That's what makes the difference between Federer and the rest of the players."

Nadal had little difficulty with the 32-year-old Schuettler, the lowest ranked player to reach the Wimbledon semifinals (No. 94) in seven years.

The Spaniard dictated the points with his punishing ground strokes and faced his only two break points of the match at 1-1 in the second set. He saved the first but Schuettler hit a crosscourt winner on the second. The German was serving for the set at 5-4, but Nadal broke back and then sailed through the tiebreaker.

Another match like that could bring a change in men's tennis.

"If I win here, probably one of the most important wins in my career," Nadal said. "If I win Sunday, my career is changing a little bit more."

Rafa Nadal remains on course for a potential repeat of last year's magnificent final against five-time champion Roger Federer, after a convincing victory over England's hero, Andy Murray.

The British number one, who staged a thrilling comeback to beat Richard Gasquet and reach the quarter-finals, went down 6-3 6-2 6-4 on Centre Court.

Rafa was simply too good for Murray as he continued the impressive form he has shown throughout the tournament. Murray never threatened to break - winning only nine points on his opponent's serve - while he was constantly struggling to hold his own serve.

Murray's own verdict told the story.

"He played so much better than me," said the British star. "I didn't feel I played my best which was disappointing. He was hitting the ball so close to the line and so hard, I was rushed on every point.

"You just have to keep fighting and hope his level goes down a bit but I had no chances on his serve at all."

Rafa forced Murray to recover from 15-40 down in his second service game as he enjoyed a strong start to their last-eight match. And when the Spaniard moved 15-40 ahead on the Murray serve once again in the eighth game, he was able to clinch the crucial first break.

Rafa comfortably served out the set to establish a 1-0 lead and Murray was then broken again in the third game of the second set when he served a double-fault at 0-40.

A further break consolidated Rafa's position of strength and he went on to wrap up the set 6-2.

Murray battled again to hold serve in the early stages of the third set, but Rafa - who had won the previous six sets between the two men going into this match - broke again for a 4-3 lead.

Despite fighting back from a similar position against Gasquet, there was no way back for Murray as world number two Nadal comfortably served out the match.

Murray added the long match against Gasquet in the previous round had not affected him.

"I felt like I'd recovered well. I didn't feel the legs were all that heavy. The Gasquet match had no bearing on the match whatsoever."

Meanwhile, Rafa was delighted with his display.

"I played my best match here against difficult opposition," he said. "I played very aggressive all the time and tried to hit with big power and attack his second serve."

As for Murray, the Spaniard said: "He will be in the top five very soon and will have good chances to win here at Wimbledon."

Rafa Nadal set up a Wimbledon quarter-final meeting with Andy Murray by dispatching Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-3 6-1.

Russian 17th seed Youzhny traded blows with the French Open champion from the baseline but Nadal overpowered his rival with some typically ferocious shots.

The 22-year-old, who is on course for a third successive final at the All England Club, overcame an early injury scare to post his straight-sets victory.

Rafa earned himself three break points in the fourth and pushed ahead when Youzhny hit the net on the third, but the second seed found himself in trouble a game later, firing a simple forehand wide to immediately concede his advantage.

The Majorcan was back in business when a cleverly-disguised drop shot secured break point and he concluded an enthralling rally with a brutal winner.

Youzhny kept his composure as he fell victim to two dreadful line calls in the eighth but he was only delaying the inevitable.

Nadal was in danger of running away with it as he broke in the fourth game of the second set with Youzhny doing the hard work only to overhit what should have been the winner.

Another poor call went against Youzhny but he responded with two impressive service games to keep him within sight. His brave resistance was ebbing, however, as Nadal emerged triumphant from one delicate rally to close out the set.

The Spaniard dominated again in the third and a missed simple smash was symbolic of Youzhny's fading chances and, powerless to halt Nadal's relentless onslaught, the demoralised underdog surrendered the final set - and with it the match.