London, July 06: Mark Philippoussis and Roger Federer have an appointment with destiny in the men's singles final at Wimbledon today - but they admitted yesterday to adopting different approaches to the greatest game of their careers.
Whereas big-serving Australian Philippoussis professed to having enjoyed a good night's sleep after swatting Sebastien Grosjean of France in Friday's semis Swiss star Federer said he'd dreamed about the final already.
"Falling asleep was not so easy - just pictures going through my head," said the 21-year-old who shattered US star Andy Roddick's dreams of glory in his semi.
"But you always dream about being in the finals," added the man from Basel, who said he had "high expectations" to live up to two years on from being heralded as the new Pete Sampras, having beaten the original in a 2001 fourth-round match.
Philippoussis, 26, said he could afford to relax knowing that he has already won one big battle after defying debilitating knee surgery to come back to the top of the game while his father Nick has also defied cancer over the past six years.



"It's a nice day just to get a bit of a hit in and get the body ready for tomorrow," said the Aussie serve machine who has banged down 164 aces in the past fortnight when asked about his pre-final routine.



"I slept great," he added, having unlike Federer experienced the tension of a grand slam final before in the 1998 US Open which he lost to compatriot Pat Rafter.


Bureau Report