I'm not intimidated by Nadal: Federer

LONDON: Roger Federer carries the burden of a 6-1 career deficit against Rafael Nadal into Sunday's Wimbledon final insisting that he is not intimidated by the Spanish muscleman. Many in the game believe that the world number one, and triple defending champion, has lost the psychological battle with the 20-year-old French Open winner.

The Swiss star denies it but the evidence is mounting up against him with four of those defeats coming this year, all in finals, with three on clay and one on hard court. "I'm not intimidated," said Federer who takes a four-year, 47-match winning streak on grass into the final. "I don't think he's bad, he just pumps himself up," added the world number one when asked if Nadal's lengthy pauses between points and his towelling down of his biceps infuriates him.

"I only see about 10-percent of all that because I turn around. We've had good matches in the past and it should be interesting on grass. I'm not affected by him beating me. The matches have been very close and I haven't played that badly. I don't know how much it means to him to be in the final here or whether the French Open means more to him."

Nadal, who had never got beyond the third round here before this year, has stunned everyone by his run to the final. But not Federer. 

"He has won titles on fast, hard courts. I think the media underestimates him," Federer said.