Federer marched into his seventh successive Grand Slam final at Melbourne Park, equaling the record of Australian Jack Crawford set in 1934.

"I guess you can call me a genius because I'm outplaying many of my opponents, kind of maybe playing a bit different, you know, winning when I'm not playing my best," Federer said.

He was speaking as the first man in the professional era to win three consecutive majors twice in his career. But a genius among mere mortals can lead to tedium.
Hence it has left Federer dreaming about testing his brilliance against two of the former greats.
Borg and Laver collected 11 Grand Slam titles each but both could have lifted many more.
Laver, the only man to have won two calendar Grand Slams in 1962 and 1969, 1963 to 1967 after turning professional.

was banned from entering the amateur-only Grand Slams from 1963 to 1967 after turning professional.

Having remained dominant throughout the period, it is easy to speculate that Laver would almost certainly have won several more majors from the 20 he was forced to miss.

Borg won his first slam at 18 and by 26 he had turned his back on the sport.

But with Federer in hot pursuit of matching Borg's professional era record of five consecutive Wimbledon crowns later this year, a duel between the two at their prime on the hallowed Centre Court would have left the purists drooling.

Although such tussles can only remain a figment of one's imagination, Laver has no doubt where Federer ranks among the greats.