London: If Mirka Federer had feared that the stress of a Wimbledon semi-final would induce the early birth of her first child, she need not have worried. Her husband has done this job six times before and, for Roger Federer, the Centre Court Friday was a stress-free zone.

There was even a final flourish for Mrs Federer to enjoy — an extravagant leap in the air to smash the winning point as he defeated Tommy Haas, 7-6, 7-5, 6-3.

The bookies are taking bets on the new baby’s name and Bjorn is in the running, after Bjorn Borg, one of Federer’s greatest heroes. Borg was in the Royal Box to see a man who has equalled his number of Wimbledon titles. But perhaps the best choice would be Pete — as in Pete Sampras — as Federer eyes up beating the record of 14 Grand Slam titles set by the American.

On this form, there is every chance. An image came to mind as Federer locked and bolted up yet another service game: that of a huge boxer holding the little guy at arm’s length while his diminutive opponent swings furiously without landing a punch. Then he is released — and the big boxer floors his man.

Haas was not quite such a victim, but the German must have been suffering a depressing sense of certainty every time he faced the laser-like Federer serve. Nobody thinks of Federer as one of the game’s great exponents of the serve, yet consider this: in seven straight semi-finals at Wimbledon, he has dropped serve only twice.

Haas is a great exponent of the serve and was fiendishly difficult for Federer to break — but he needed to do so only twice and that was enough to set up a straight-sets victory and a place in the final on Sunday with the opportunity to make history as officially the world’s greatest player.

He could add the record for Grand Slam victories to all the rest: 21 consecutive semi-finals, a record seventh Wimbledon final and a record twentieth Grand Slam final. Even Federer is impressed and he had his own fact to add.

“I am very proud of all the records I have created,” he said. “I never thought I would be that successful when I was a kid. I would have been happy winning a couple of tournaments and maybe collecting Wimbledon — sort of achieving the dream. But not all those records. It is quite staggering now, having reached my sixth straight Grand Slam final. It is quite amazing to be back in a Wimbledon final because everything has happened so quickly.”

A rapid return to form, indeed, and one that bodes badly for his opponent on Sunday. Haas did not play poorly at all, his serve rock solid until the twelfth game of the second set and his ground strokes enterprising at times. It was not so much a demolition; just a brick-by-brick dismantling of Haas’s game by Federer, which seemed a little cruel on the German after his long struggle back to the top of tennis.

A year ago, Haas was so depressed by a succession of injuries that he contemplated ditching his professional career. He stayed on, got fit and is suddenly looking like the player who was ranked No 2 in the world seven years ago.

“I approached the game with a lot of confidence,” he said. “There aren’t really any weaknesses in Roger’s game. He moves in so smoothly and has good defensive play. The slice bites a lot. When you think sometimes you might get a relatively easy volley, he dinks it in front of you, or he made two spectacular sliced lobs over my head on important points. There aren’t really any weaknesses.”

Point made and no doubt taken by the knowledgeable Wimbledon crowd when they take their seats for the men’s singles final Sunday. They will wonder whether they might see the unexpected — a player who has become a legend in his own lifetime defeated in a Wimbledon final for the second year in succession. By rights, Federer should be shaking in his shoes after losing that epic to Rafael Nadal last year.

But there is one important thing to consider: that Federer will be the most cool man out there. And there will be no nerves about the record 15 Grand Slam victories on offer.