The 40th career meeting between the golden duo with 38 Grand Slam titles between them swung this way and that before Federer seized control.

He went on to claim a 7-6(3) 1-6 6-3 6-4 victory to become the oldest finalist at Wimbledon since Ken Rosewall in 1974.

World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic now stands between the 37-year-old Federer and a record-equalling ninth Wimbledon title in Sunday’s showpiece.

After edging a tense first set by taking the last five points of the tiebreak, Federer was overpowered in a 36-minute second set.

This was as Nadal, reviving memories of his memorable 2008 final triumph over the Swiss, appeared to have wrestled control.

Federer’s fans inside Centre Court and massed on “Henman Hill” watching the drama on the giant screen, need not have worried though.

The second seed had plenty left in the tank.

He broke early in the third set and then held off a fierce Nadal counter-attack to restore his one-set lead.

The Swiss maestro turned the screws to break again early in the fourth set.

And now there was no way back for third seed Nadal as he lost a Grand Slam semi-final against Federer for the first time.

The 33-year-old Spaniard was never going to slink away without a fight though.

He clung on at 3-5, saving two match points, then had a break point as Federer served for the match.

Federer saved that and then threw everything in his arsenal at Nadal on a third match point, only for the indefatigable Spaniard to win a sensational baseline rally.

Nadal fended off a fourth match point with another sublime winner, but Federer sealed it at the fifth time of asking —— holding his arms aloft as Nadal fired a backhand long.

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But it was something the Spaniard welcomed and dreaded with equal measure —— Roger Federer was through to the semi-finals.

It meant it was game on for a Federer-Nadal blockbuster.

All the Spaniard had to do to ensure Act 40 of the most compelling rivalry in tennis became a reality was to win one more point and another set.

And there was no stopping Nadal on Wednesday as he soaked up 22 thunderbolt aces to flatten Querrey 7-5 6-2 6-2 and reach his 32nd Grand Slam semi-final and seventh at Wimbledon.

Ever since the draw set Nadal and Federer on a collision course, tennis fans around the world had started dreaming, hoping and longing.

That the two most successful players on planet tennis would renew their rivalry on the sport’s greatest stage for the first time since their mesmerising 2008 twilight epic.

In recent years Nadal had declared he was “not stupid” as he would “prefer to face an easier opponent” than the eight-times Wimbledon champion on his favorite patch of turf.

But since that was no longer an option, the Spaniard admitted that he was excited to see how the latest installment in their shared history would pan out.

“Playing against Roger is always a unique situation. Excited to be back on this court against him after 11 years. Means a lot for me and probably for him, too,” said the 33-year-old Nadal, who leads Federer 24-15 in their head-to-head meetings.

“I am excited to play Roger again at Wimbledon after such a long time.”

Perhaps it was the anticipation of setting up that mega showdown that provided the spark that the Spaniard needed to make a jaw-dropping start to his quarter-final against Querrey.

He won all 12 points during his first three service games.

Querrey, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2017, finally got a foothold on Nadal’s serve in the eighth game but making any form of sustained attack proved to be mission impossible.

A warning for a time violation threw third seed Nadal, who had already squandered four set points, off his service stride in the 10th game and allowed Querrey to break back for 5-5.

But that was as good as it got for the 6-foot-5 American as his serve might have been on fire but everything else was misfiring.

Querrey had bulldozed his way into the last eight by firing down 100 aces and winning 71 of his 72 service games.

But when it came to facing a man who owns 18 Grand Slam titles, Querrey knew that such stats were meaningless.

“It’s his least favorite place of the slams and he’s finalled it five times (and won twice). And he’s been rolling through guys. It’s going to be tough,” the unseeded American said in the build-up to the quarter-final.

That assessment was spot on as an airborne Nadal was celebrating with a fist pump after sealing the first set with a service winner.

He could have drilled a volley right into his opponent’s chest to win the second but gently, and politely, tapped it away to take a 2-0 lead.

As he sprinted back to his chair, the 37-year-old Federer’s winning score flashed up on the Court One screen but Nadal had no time for such distractions.

Instead he pulled out a fresh shirt from his bag and slipped it over his head as he needed no official confirmation about the identity of his next opponent.

The deafening roars still ringing around the grounds had already done that.

Thirty-five minutes later, the Spaniard whipped a forehand winner on match point to make sure it was game on with Federer in Friday’s semi-final.

Nadal’s victory meant it was the first time more than one Spanish man had reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in the same year.

Compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut was also through to the last four after he beat Argentine Guido Pella in an earlier quarter-final.

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The Spaniard once again showed he is invincible on the Parisian clay as he beat Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 on his favorite Court Philippe Chatrier.

No other player has won the same Grand Slam title as many times as his dozen at Roland Garros, Sunday’s triumph taking him past Margaret Court’s 11 Australian Open titles.

It was pointed out to the 33-year-old Spaniard a few hours after he walked off court that he is now just two behind 37-year-old Federer’s record haul, with time on his side.

Nadal, however, was content to enjoy the moment.

“Being honest, I am not very worried about this stuff. No.” Nadal told reporters.

“You can’t be frustrated all the time because the neighbour has a bigger house than you, or a bigger TV or better garden. That’s not the way that I see the life, you know.”

Nadal has suffered more injuries throughout his career than Federer and Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic, who is third on the all-time list of major winners with 15.

Even this season he has been plagued with knee injuries, being forced out of his Indian Wells semi-final with Federer before withdrawing from Miami.

His knees were still bothering him as his happiest hunting season began on the European claycourts he has owned.

“I lost, I think, around 15 or even more Grand Slams in my career for injuries,” Nadal said. “So, it has been difficult.”

Watching him repel the swashbuckling Thiem on Sunday with the kind of intensity and sheer willpower that has marked his career, it was hard to believe the transformation.

It was hard to believe that just a few weeks ago in Barcelona he was suffering a crisis of confidence.

Thiem beat him in straight sets in Barcelona and Nadal said it was at that tournament he realised he needed to change his mentality.

“Mentally, I lost a little bit of energy, because I had too many issues in a row,” he said.

“Mentally I was not enjoying. Too much worried about the health and, being honest, too negative.

“After the first round in Barcelona, I was able to stay alone for a couple of hours in the room and think about it and think about what’s going on, what I need to do.

“One possibility would have been (to) stop for a while and recover my body. And the other was change drastically my attitude and my mentality to play the next couple of weeks.”

Sunday’s display proved he made the correct call.

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He showed this after he humbled Novak Djokovic 6-0 4-6 6-1 in the Italian Open final to win a record 34th ATP Masters 1000 title.

The Spaniard, who had shared the record of 33 Masters titles with the Serbian world number one, warmed up for the defence of his Roland Garros crown with the win.

It however helped him to secure his ninth Rome title.

Nadal got off to a flying start by whitewashing Djokovic in the opening set.

It was the first time there has been a 6-0 set during a meeting between the two rivals.

Djokovic took the second by breaking Nadal’s serve for the first time while leading 5-4, but the second seed responded in style by storming through the decisive set.

When Nadal’s previous three claycourt tournaments ended in semi-final defeats, it no doubt gave his rivals hope that his long reign at Roland Garros could be ending this year.

However, the way he demolished the world’s top-ranked player in the opening and third sets on Sunday was indeed mind-boggling.

It would have once again struck fear into any of those challengers who had been harbouring hopes of lifting the Musketeers’ Cup on June 9.

The Spaniard heads into Roland Garros in top form after seeing his serve broken just twice en route to claiming his first title of 2019 in his 50th Masters final.

“For me it’s always an honour to be here, I still remember my first time here in 2005,” said Nadal, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th French Open title when the claycourt major begins on May 26.

“To have the chance to come back and win this trophy after so many years means everything. It wasn’t an easy week for me.”

The 32-year-old left Djokovic in a daze as he stormed through the opening set in 39 blistering minutes.

The top seed fought back in the second as he saved four break points before winning the decisive game on Nadal’s serve to take the set 6-4.

But the Serb, who had survived three-set battles against Argentines Martin del Potro and Diego Schwartzman to reach the final, faded in the final set.

He dropped his opening service game before Nadal surged clear.

“I’m really glad that I managed to get into the third set, considering the first set where I was blown away from the court,” Djokovic said.

“Obviously third set was not much different from the first. I was just running out of fuel a little bit today. Just kind of missed that half a step, especially on the backhand side.

“He used it very well. He’s been playing some terrific tennis throughout the entire week. He was just too strong today.”

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Neither Federer or Nadal have dropped a set in their three matches at Indian Wells, a tournament Federer has won five times and Nadal three.

In other fourth-round action, hard-hitting Canadian Milos Raonic saved all three of Jan-Lennard Struff’s break point opportunities to down the German 6-4 6-3.

The 13th seed will square off against either France’s Gael Monfils or Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Federer needed just over an hour to dispatch Briton Kyle Edmund 6-1 6-4 in their first career meeting and reach the quarter-finals on a sunny and breezy day in Indian Wells.

Next up for the 20-times Grand Slam champion is another unknown quantity in Pole Hubert Hurkacz.

He defeated Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 earlier in the day to set up his first career meeting with the Swiss Master.

Nadal, 17 times a Grand Slam winner, ruthlessly put an end to Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic’s run at the tournament, converting three of his four break point opportunities to advance 6-3 6-4.

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Two of the Spaniard’s 17 Grand Slam titles came on the All England Club’s lawns, but the 32-year-old has struggled to make an impact there in recent years.

“Difficult for me to think about it now. I had a long and mentally tough clay court season. Of course, because I played almost all the matches possible after coming from an injury.

“So it was a demanding two months for me,” Nadal told reporters after his 6-4 6-3 6-2 defeat of Dominic Thiem in Paris.

Nadal, who also won the titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome this year, is entered for the Queen’s Club warm-up tournament starting next week.

But he says he will consult with his team, including Coach Carlos Moya, over the next few days.

“I would love to be playing in as many places as possible, but you understand I need to check how I feel in the next couple of days,” Nadal said.

“Of course it’s a drastic change from clay to grass. I did it in the past when I was much younger, quicker, because I played back to back.”

Twenty-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, the world number two, skipped the clay court season to concentrate on Wimbledon, where he will be going for a ninth title.

Nadal spent several months away from the tour after sustaining an injury at this year’s Australian Open and could, like Federer, decide that his long-term interests are best-served by sparing his body further punishment.

It is common knowledge that the lower-bouncing ball on grass puts extra strain on the knees that have bothered him at times throughout his career.

Yet Nadal also knows he could be a threat after playing impressively last year before falling in the last 16, losing a classic tussle against Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.

“Last year I felt that I had a good opportunity to go far in the tournament. I felt myself playing well on grass last year,” the Spaniard said.

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The 16-time Grand Slam champion had a scan in a Melbourne hospital after he retired early in the fifth set of his match with Croatia’s Marin Cilic on Tuesday.

“The MRI (scan) showed a grade one injury of his illiopsoas on his right leg,” his management said in a statement.

“He will be resting over the next days once back in Spain and will start with anti-inflammatory physiotherapy.

“He will start his rehabilitation and pre-adaptation process to the tennis court in two weeks, starting progressively his training and practice.”

The Nadal team said the Spanish star was expected to be fully recovered in three weeks and could resume playing in Acapulco late next month.

“Three weeks is the normal time to totally recover and he will resume his tennis schedule as planned, playing Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami,” the statement said.

The Spaniard was forced to withdraw when trailing Marin Cilic 0-2 in the fifth set and called on tour organisers to do more to halt injuries to top players.

His comments followed the withdrawals of Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori before the tournament started and Novak Djokovic struggling ahead of his exit on Monday.

“Somebody who is running the tour should think a little bit about what’s going on. Too many people are getting injured,” Nadal said.

“I don’t know if they think a little bit about the health of the players. I don’t know if we keep playing on these very hard surfaces what’s going to happen in the future with our lives.”

It was the second time Nadal had been forced to pull out with injury in Melbourne after calling it quits in the third set of his 2010 quarter-final against Andy Murray with a knee problem.

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The 31-year-old Nadal will be the oldest year-end number one and first season-ending number one over the age of 30 since the Emirates ATP Rankings were established in 1973.

Our correspondent reports that it is his fourth time of finishing atop the rankings, adding to 2008, 2010 and 2013.

Roger Federer has pushed Nadal all the way in the battle to finish atop the rankings, with both players enjoying remarkable comebacks in 2017.

But with Federer forced to withdraw from Paris, Nadal needed just one more win to finish as number one.

“I’m very, very happy for everything,” said Nadal in his on-court interview.

“It has been an amazing year. One year ago, for sure, I never dreamt about being world number one again at the end of the season.

“It’s something that means a lot to me. But the season is not over,” Nadal was quoted on the ATP World Tour website as saying.

However, it wasn’t plain sailing for Nadal against the 21-year-old Chung, who is due to feature at the inaugural NextGen ATP Finals in Milan next week.

After breaks were exchanged in the early stages, Nadal then rallied from a 0/40 deficit before breaking Chung to lead 4-2.

However, with Nadal serving for the set in the ninth game, his South Korean opponent broke back and levelled at 5-5.

The Spaniard eventually got over the line in the first set as he opened up a 0/40 lead on Chung’s serve in the 12th game.

He then clinched it with a forehand winner as the match ticked into the hour mark.

After Chung fended off four break points in the fourth game of the second set, Nadal made his move with a break in the ninth game.

This helped him to seal victory in one hour and 49 minutes.

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