Tennis legend Roger Federer and fellow Grand Slam champion Marin Cilic look set to contest Sunday’s Wimbledon final but neither was taking anything for granted as they headed into their semi-finals.

The Swiss genius has cruised through the tournament to this point, none of his opponents managing to keep him on court for two hours so far and the departure of ‘big four’ rivals Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have left him odds-on to add to his record hauls of Grand Slam wins.

And while he was quick to say that all three other semi-finalists are bigger men and bigger hitters than he is, the way he dominated his quarter-final against Milos Raonic, the power-hitting Canadian who knocked him out in the semis last year, suggested the game’s greatest ever player was ever closer to being back to his best.

He has reason to be wary since in Tomas Berdych he is up against the man who effectively ended his Wimbledon dominance when beating him in the 2010 quarter-finals, ending a sequence of seven successive appearances in the final, six of which Federer had won.

However the Czech player has slipped down the world rankings in recent times and it would now be a major shock if he could repeat that feat.

The other semi-final is expected to be even more one-sided with Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, up against Sam Querrey who is playing his first Grand Slam semi-final after more than a decade on tour.

Amazingly he is also the first American man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final for seven years and is also aiming to be the first to win one of the sport’s biggest titles since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003.

The Croat, who is aiming to following in the footsteps of compatriot Goran Ivanisevic by winning a Wimbledon title spoke on behalf of himself and Federer when saying that they cannot afford to start looking ahead to a clash in the final.

“I still have a huge match in front of me and Roger has as well,” he said.

He has, however, drawn considerable encouragement from Federer having predicted that he would go far in this tournament.

“It's great for me to hear that even him and a lot of players around, even ex-players, when they were looking before the tournament started, that they were seeing me as a player that could go quite deep,” said Cilic.

“That has given me a little bit more belief, a little bit more confidence that, you know, players and people around are also seeing that I'm in a great form, that I'm able to do great things. I think that just gave me a little bit more reassurance in myself, and obviously a great power that I managed to get to that level.”

And he reckoned that his experience in winning the US Open, beating Federer in straight sets on the way, enhances his chances.

“Winning the US Open has helped me for all these Grand Slams I have played so far, and I believe the rest of my career,” said Cilic.

“Preparation-wise I believe in my own abilities. I believe when coming at these stages of the tournament, I'm going to still be able to play great tennis.

“I know I have it in me that I can win. That's extremely important.”