And now, after years of chasing Sampras, Federer is poised to surpass him.

A victory over No. 6 seed Andy Roddick of the United States in tomorrow's final at the All England Club would give Federer his 15th Grand Slam singles championship, breaking a tie with Sampras for the most in history. It also would give Federer a sixth Wimbledon title and a return to No. 1 in the rankings.

As it is, No. 2 Federer's overwhelming 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-3 victory over No. 24 Tommy Haas of Germany in yesterday's opening match on Centre Court put the Swiss star in a seventh consecutive Wimbledon final and 20th career Grand Slam final - establishing two other marks.

"I'm very proud of all the records I've achieved," the 27-year-old Federer said, "because I never thought I would be that successful as a kid. You know, I would have been happy winning a couple of tournaments and maybe collecting Wimbledon. It's quite staggering."

When he finished off Haas with that Sampras-like leaping put-away, Federer simply waited at the net to shake hands. Then he gave a little wave of his racket in the direction of his pregnant wife, his parents, and other supporters in the guest seats above a scoreboard, before making the same gesture toward the Royal Box, where past greats of the game Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver were among the invited guests.

Winning a Wimbledon semifinal - indeed, any Grand Slam semifinal - is all so very been-there, done-that for Federer: He is 20-3 in major semis, reaching 16 of the last 17 major finals.

"I know what's on the line," Federer said. "I hope I can play another good match."

His previous match against Haas, on June 1 in the fourth round of the French Open, was much tighter. Haas won the first two sets that day - drew within five points of victory, even - before Federer came back en route to winning the title at Roland Garros to complete a career Grand Slam and tie Sampras with 14 Grand Slam championships.

This time, Federer was close to perfect. He won a remarkable 72 of 83 points on his serve, did not face a single break point, and finished with 49 winners and only 15 unforced errors.

"You know, that's the way it goes playing against him," Haas said. "There aren't really any weaknesses."

Roddick celebrated emotionally after finishing off No. 3 Andy Murray of Britain, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5), in the second semifinal. The 2003 U.S. Open champion, still seeking a second major title, dropped to his knees, leaned forward, and covered his head with his hands.

Leaving the court, Roddick paused to enjoy the moment, thankful that all the changes the 26-year-old has made the last few months had paid dividends: tweaking his diet to drop 15 pounds, hiring a new coach, working more than ever to improve his returns, his volleys, his backhand.

"To be honest, the last couple of years I didn't know if I'd ever get a chance to play for another Grand Slam title," Roddick said. "Now I get to. It's just a dream."

This part might cause some nightmares before tomorrow: Roddick is 2-18 against Federer, including losses in the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals and the 2006 U.S. Open final.

"I've had plenty of time to study his game, to understand his game," Federer said. "He's always played me also quite differently every single time."

Then again, Roddick had been 2-6 against Murray, who was trying to become the first British man to reach a Wimbledon final since the 1930s and, of course, received plenty of partisan support from the 15,000 or so spectators.

Roddick joked beforehand that he would pretend that all those shouts of "Come on, Andy!" were for him, but he was outsmarted: Instead of the usual first-name cheers, the crowd yelled support "Murray!"

It didn't matter. Roddick was too good on the most important points, and that made the difference on a day Murray compiled more aces (25-21), more winners (76-64) and fewer unforced errors (20-24).