PREVIEW: Nadal, Djokovic both face huge tests in Wimbledon final

Jul 2, 2011, 11:49 GMT

London - Novak Djokovic will be competing to make a childhood dream come true when the new world number one plays his first Wimbledon final Sunday against Rafael Nadal, the man he is replacing at the top of the rankings.

Whatever the outcome on centre court, Serbian Djokovic will head the ATP list on Monday when the new rankings list is released. Nadal will drop to second with Roger Federer third.

It will mark the first time since February, 2004 that neither Federer nor Nadal have topped the list.

'I lost the number one, a guy played unbelievable the first half of the year so he's the new number one,' said Nadal. 'We just can congratulate him because what he did this first part of the season is something really impressive, really fantastic.'

Djokovic booked his first - and most cherished - Wimbledon final as he overcame Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in an acrobatic and entertaining final, winning in four sets. He said he's been dreaming of the Wimbledon title chance since starting tennis at age four.

Nadal's win over Scot Andy Murray was ruthless, with the Spanish top seed pouncing on a mistake in the second set and winning seven straight games to establish dominance on the way to victory.

Recent statistics in the final stand firmly with Djokovic, who has defeated Nadal in four Masters 1000 finals this season on the way to a 47-1 record in 2011. But in Grand Slams, Nadal has won all five previous meetings, the last a US Open semi-final in 2010. The Spaniard leads overall 16-11.

Djokovic is living a career dream after surpassing both Nadal and Federer this season, which began with a 41-match winning streak.

'There were times in the last two, three years where it was really difficult, when I was losing most of those important matches at the later stages of the majors against those two guys,' he said.

'I knew that if I work hard, if I work on my game to try to improve it, I could get it to the stage where I feel comfortable to beat those guys. Because they are so good, you have to come up with your best tennis.'

That is exactly what Djokovic will have to do to prevent Nadal from securing an All England Club trophy hat-trick after winning in 2008 and 2010.

Nadal enters with his own doubts. 'His mental position over me today is probably a little bit better because he won the last four finals against me,' said the Spaniard. 'I'm here, I'll try my best.

'We will see what's going on on Sunday, no? I have to play aggressive. I have to play with intensity, with rhythm. That's what I'm going to try.'

Djokovic will be bidding for his eighth trophy of the season while Nadal owns three.

The Spaniard is always wary of Djokovic's impressive style. 'His general game, his total game, is really complete: good serve, very good movements, very easy, his eyes are very fast, and he can go inside the court very easy playing very difficult shots.

'It's very easy for him because he takes the ball very early.'

The Serb will take nothing for granted in his bid for a third Grand Slam title to back up his Australian Opens from 2008 and last January.

'He's been on a winning streak in Wimbledon for 20 matches,' Djokovic said of Nadal. 'He's playing great on grass.

'He has still a lot of confidence and he knows how it feels like to win a trophy at Wimbledon. Me, I don't know, because I never been there.

'But, I have really nothing to lose. I will step on the court and be aggressive, try to take it to him, because I don't want him to feel the control of the match.'