Roger Federer, and the faithful who have been waiting for his second coming, can dream again. Two years after winning the last of his 17 grand slam titles – here against a devastated Andy Murray – the 32-year-old Swiss father of four will contest a record ninth Wimbledon final when he plays Novak Djokovic for the 35th time on Sunday.
If tennis is a game measured in a thousand small moments and numbers, Federer has put together a more glorious collection of them than anyone in the history of the sport and the latest against Milos Raonic in the second semi-final on Friday stack up pretty well against those that have gone before.
It was, on the face of it, a pedestrian match. "I was expecting much better of myself," Raonic said, and the 23-year-old Canadian, one of the new wave who have been harassing the Big Four for a little while now, was on the money there.
With pleasing symmetry, Federer won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, each set taking just a little over half an hour. It was almost as if it had been ordered up as a script for a movie, with a strict limitation on the amount of tape to be used.
Speaking immediately afterwards, Federer, as ever, was barely out of breath. "I needed big concentration," he said. "I really had to focus on every point."
He added: "I didn't play so well last year [when he went out in the second round to Sergiy Stakhovsky]. In the second week I've been able to play better, against Stan Wawrinka and now Raonic.
"I'm unbelievably proud every time I walk on these grounds. The first [title] was special, 2003. I was able to be so successful for so many years. To get another chance to go through these sort of emotions is great."
Federer is acutely aware of how people have been writing him off, because he is bombarded with questions about his retirement every time he loses – which has been worryingly often these past couple of years.
But not this time. Not this tournament. This, realistically, is his last chance for another grand slam title. He has been building towards it for a year.
He has looked just about back to his premium best carving through six matches with hardly a nod to his age – or to those who were after his scalp: Paolo Lorenzi, who lasted half an hour; Gilles Müller (1hr 34min), Santiago Giraldo (1:21), Tommy Robredo (1:34) and his compatriot Wawrinka , the only player to take a set off him but who succumbed after 2hr 33min.
And so to Raonic, the power server who some thought would blow Federer off the court. He came to the showdown with 147 aces from five matches, 39 of them in his quarter-final win over the Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios. His best chance of beating Federer clearly was with ball in hand but, striving to make the most of that advantage, he hit four double faults among 17 aces (way below his match average of nearly 30), giving Federer sufficient daylight to exploit every opportunity under the most intense pressure when receiving.
Raonic challenged on the first point of the match (successfully) but could do nothing about Federer's classic crosscourt forehand into the backhand corner for break. In a tight first set, Raonic could not claw back the deficit and, in the ninth game of the second set, he paid for a double fault and a rash smash when Federer broke him with the second of two glorious backhands down the line.
Serving for a two-set lead, Federer forced Raonic to err on his forehand and the job seemed to be more straightforward by the point. Three times in his career he has lost with a two-set lead – notably here against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals three years ago – but Raonic admitted he was not asking him the appropriate questions. Six of his aces arrived in the third set, but Federer's legs held up well.
Actually, Federer's own serve in this tournament has been a weapon of consistent strength, and he has been broken only once in six matches.
His task here was to retain composure and energy in holding off the youthful charge of a player who would fancy his chances in a longer fight.
When Federer broke to go 5-4 up, he walked up to the line to serve for a place in the final with the assurance born of experience and the deeply held conviction that he deserved to be there.
The number of people present who did not want him to succeed could probably be found in that small enclosure holding Raonic's team, because this was the reincarnation of a legend – or at least the penultimate stage of that process.
His movement was as fluid and unflustered in his final service game as it was in his first game of the tournament. He did not quite get his running volley right at 30-15 but he repaired the damage immediately with another, moving sharply to his left for championship point.
The final serve was right where he wanted it, wide to Raonic's backhand and the young man could do nothing but stick a limp racket on it. How fitting that the master should tame the blaster with a big serve.
Federer not only has a great game, he has a great sense of theatre and he will have loved that concluding rapier thrust immensely.
One other thing looks good for Federer: his magic feet. All three of the other semi-finalists took regular tumbles on the dusty, wearing grass.
His renowned balance kept him where he feels comfortable, floating above his favourite court, above his peers. Could he be the last man standing on Sunday? He surely could.
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