Much has been made of Roger Federer's "slump" this year. Writers, fans and media have been trumpeting the Swiss star's supposed demise for months now.

With Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal taking all the plaudits in the first six months of the season it had been widely expected that they would continue this dominance throughout the season.

Yes, Djokovic took the Australian Open in fine form and Nadal has looked awesome as usual on clay with the added bonus of winning on grass at Queen's in the build up to Wimbledon.

We all know about Federer's injury that has led to a rather mediocre and spasmodic season so far. The after-effects of mononucleosis are the cause of this seemingly erratic and lazy form. Sapped of his normal levels of energy, it must be said that Federer has still managed to play some fantastic tennis, but his overall consistency has collapsed.

With seeds tumbling at Wimbledon, including Djokovic himself, it seems that this has left a slightly easier path for Federer to navigate. He was seeded to meet Djokovic in the semi-finals, but that meeting is not to be. But there are still some dangerous players hanging around.

Marat Safin is a multi-talented player whose progress has been stifled by injury throughout his career. The way in which he disposed of Djokovic this week suggests that the double Slam-winning Russian is back at the peak of his game.

Safin is one dark horse who cannot be discounted. He was described by Pete Sampras in 2000 as "the tennis of the future". I am not going to stick my neck out and tip him to win, but do we have another Goran Ivanisevic story in the making? Certainly one to watch if he steers clear of injury.

But are we heading for another Federer-Nadal final? Each year Nadal looks more and more likely to topple Federer. Whether he can finally do it on grass is another question altogether.

Federer is desperate to eclipse Bjorn Borg's five-in-a-row Wimbledon titles record he equalled last year. It would be foolish to take Nadal's mauling of him at the French Open as any sort of indicator as to what might happen in SW19 next Sunday.

But it is also very clear that Nadal is a lot closer to beating Federer on grass than the Swiss star is of beating the Spaniard on clay. I still believe that Federer has too much to his grass-court game for Nadal and it will take a super-human effort from the man from Mallorca.

There have been surprises this year already and as much as I would like to see Nadal, or that dark-horse Safin do it, I think that Roger Federer will make himself a living legend come the final Sunday.