On July 6, 2008, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were tested against each other in the greatest tennis match of all time — a five-set epic that took three consecutive tiebreaks before the younger man from Mallorca, Spain achieved his first-ever Wimbledon Championship.

Stepping on to the lawns of the All England Club aiming for a record-setting sixth consecutive Wimbledon title, many thought that Federer’s 2008 loss marked the end of an era — the turning point when a younger generation would rise up to vanquish the greatest grass-court player to ever live.

Eleven years from that historic day in 2008 was the match that took place on July 12, 2019.

Despite taking to the grass for yet another semifinal at the age of 37 against a younger, stronger man, the wizard from Switzerland showed the world once more that there are still a few tricks up his sleeve.

After playing what John McEnroe called “the worst set of his career at Wimbledon” in the second frame, Federer returned to form for a 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory to advance to Sunday’s final against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Win or lose tomorrow’s match with a ninth career title on the line, Friday will forever stand as a monument to Federer’s unmatched ability with a racquet.

Some footnotes from yesterday’s page in history:

¯ Early on Federer was down on break points in a big way, with Nadal capitalizing on two of his four chances to zero out of three for the eight-time champion.

¯ With the match leveled at one set apiece, Federer would face a difficult test in the third with a pair of long rallies. Nadal is a 12-round boxer who wears opponents down with speed and endurance — he thrives on back-and-forth points — but not on this day. With a 3-1 lead in hand, Federer would fight through a pair of marathons, earning a crucial 4-1 margin after striking a crosscourt backhand that would give your neck whiplash if you were watching from the first few rows.

¯ A bizarre series in the fourth set gave Federer another break as both players missed on umpire challenges.

¯ Federer lost just three points in four service games in the fourth, hammering Nadal with outside, high kick-serves and darts up the center line. Even as the fastest player of his generation, Nadal struggled to return Federer’s feints.

¯ Holding a 3-2 lead in the fourth set, the Swiss champion somehow morphed back into the same untouchable player he was a decade earlier and climbed out of another hole. Federer willed a whipping forehand up the line to get back to even at 30-30, painted the center stripe with another service ace to move to 40-30, and rousted the crowd from their feet with a 122 mph razor up the middle to make it 4-2.

¯ With Nadal holding serve in the fourth, Federer owned a 4-3 lead and picked up 30-0 margin on his service game. That lead came after a truly impossible volley near the front of net — with Federer darting his racquet out like a Jedi before a casual stroll back to the service line. Did he really just do that?

¯ There is still no heavy breathing from Federer, nevermind any sweat. Nadal goes to eight towels instead of the usual five.

¯ Holding a 5-4 lead with a chance to close out the match, Federer gives the crowd a taste of the kind of tennis they haven’t seen since 1994 — real serve-and-volley. After a 119 mph serve on the center line once again, he closes out the point with a gliding volley after closing the distance to the net — a callback to Wimbledon’s all-time No. 2 Pete Sampras.

¯ Tension rises in the crowd as Nadal rallies in the face of a match point — the two titans battle on a rally of attrition for what McEnroe can only describe as “a staggering point” that ends with an all-to-typical Nadal forehand. Even in the face of defeat, Rafa only knows how to swing for the fences.

¯ There is enough time for just one more magical spell from Federer. Moments before heading on to yet another Wimbledon final, he is tested with another “there is no way” shot. Running dead straight for the net-post, Federer flicks his wand one more time for a trademark one-handed backhand that screeches millimeters over the net tape with equal parts pace and topspin. It is a shot that no one else in the world can hit, and even a war horse like Nadal is unable to track down. Game, set, match.

How does he do it?