Rafa will take place among the legends

All-time great John McEnroe believes Rafael Nadal is destined to finish his already amazing career as one of the undisputed legends of tennis.

He only turned 24 last month, but Nadal is poised to match the eight grand slam titles of revered figures like Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi and Ken Rosewall with victory over giant-killing Czech Tomas Berdych in the Wimbledon final tonight.

Nadal, who was unable to defend his 2008 crown last year due to tendonitis in both knees, will be contesting his fourth successive final at the All England Club. It is a feat only Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and McEnroe himself have also managed in 43 years ofprofessional tennis.

Fresh from a flawless European clay court campaign, which climaxed with a fifth French Open crown, McEnroe believes Nadal's relentless retrieving and counter-attacking make the mighty Spaniard nigh unbeatable.

"That will, that's an incredible weapon. It's like the greatest serve in the history of tennis," McEnroe said after watching Nadal crush British hopes of a drought-breaking home triumph with a clinical 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 semifinal victory over Andy Murray.

"So if you add all the other stuff, I mean, the guy's a great volleyer now. He was doing to Murray what Murray does to other players - sort of giving him the off-speed pitches, slicing the backhand, moving his opponent in at times. Really, this guy is a chance to be there with Federer, Sampras and Rod Laver.

"He downplays it, but let's face it: he's 14 [wins] and seven [losses] against Federer. Federer's the greatest player of all time, so if this guy stays healthy for another couple of years, how can you not put him in the same league as those guys?

"My worry is simply health. A week ago, we were saying: 'how on earth is this guy going to finish this tournament?'. Now we're saying: 'how in the world can you beat this guy?"'

Typically, though, Nadal is refusing to get caught up in the hype. The humble champion is aware Berdych is playing the tournament of his life - not to mention enjoying the year of an unfulfilled career. Ever since upsetting Federer at the 2004 Athens Olympics as an unknown 18-year-old, Berdych has been earmarked for greatness himself.

But until last month's French Open, the towering Czech had yet to even make a grand slam semi-final, let alone seriously challenge for major honours. Now Berdych has a head full of confidence after ousting Federer and world No 3 Novak Djokovic from Wimbledon back-to-back.

"Amazing," Nadal said. "He did amazing. Tomas is a very aggressive player, very good serve, very good flat shots from the baseline. It's very difficult to stop him when he's playing well, and he's playing really well."

A 50-1 long shot pre-tournament, Berdych is the first Czech finalist since Ivan Lendl lost to Pat Cash in 1987.

"The feeling is absolutely amazing," he said. "When every young kid first hits a ball, this is the dream - to reach a grand slam final. To reach it here at Wimbledon is the most difficult. It's a great feeling so far, but I'm still not done yet here. One more to go."

Should he win, Berdych would be the first Czech man to win Wimbledon since Jan Kodes reigned in 1973.

Meanwhile, Justine Henin has ruled herself out of this year's US Open after learning an elbow injury suffered at Wimbledon is worse than initially thought.

The former world No 1, who is six months into a comeback, fell heavily on her right elbow during her fourth-round loss to fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters. Tests revealed the damage will force her to miss the last grand slam of the year.

"Medical examinations have revealed a partial ligament fracture of the right elbow," she said on her website. "This injury will keep me away from the courts for a rough period of two months, with the consequence that I have withdrawn from the US Open [starting August 30]."

Henin said she would undergo more tests in about four weeks that would determine when she might be able to return to the courts.

The injury is a setback for the seven-time grand slam winner, who stunned the tennis world when she walked away from the game in 2008 while at her peak and worked as an ambassador for Unicef in central Africa and south-east Asia.

- AAP