Another 1 vs. 2 in Wimbledon men's final

WIMBLEDON, England — From 1983 to 2003, the world's top two players never met each other in the Wimbledon men's final.

It's about to happen for the seventh time in eight years — with a couple of twists.

Thanks mainly to a couple of guys named Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, No. 1 vs. No. 2 Grand Slam finals became something of a regular occurrence in recent years, at the All England Club and elsewhere.

No. 1 Nadal will be involved today in yet another 1-2 Wimbledon championship matchup, only it'll be against No. 2 Novak Djokovic — and they'll switch spots in the ATP rankings a day later.

As of Monday, Djokovic will move up to No. 1, and Nadal will slide down to No. 2, regardless of today's outcome. Whichever man wins, it will be the sixth major title in a row that has gone to either Nadal (French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in 2010, French Open in 2011) or Djokovic (2010 Australian Open).

“One guy played unbelievable the first half of the year, so he's the new No. 1,” Nadal said. “We just can congratulate him, because what he did this first part of the season is something really impressive, really fantastic.”

That's definitely the case.

Djokovic is 47-1 in 2011, including a 4-0 record against Nadal, beating him in two hard-court finals and two clay-court finals.

“The four times I won against him this year can probably help me in some ways mentally prior to this match,” said Djokovic, who is 11-16 against Nadal overall, including 0-5 in Grand Slam tournaments.

The 24-year-old Serb won the first seven tournaments he entered this season, before his 43-match winning streak, dating to the Davis Cup final in December, ended with a loss to Federer in the French Open semifinals.

“He's the best player in the world (at) the moment,” Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said after losing to Djokovic in Friday's semifinals.

That victory moved Djokovic into his first final at Wimbledon, and fifth at a Grand Slam tournament. He's 2-2 so far, winning the Australian Open twice, and losing in two U.S. Open finals — to Federer in 2007 and to Nadal last year.

Nadal, meanwhile, is seeking his third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam trophy overall. A month past his 25th birthday, Nadal would be the second-youngest man to get to 11, barely behind Bjorn Borg.

And Nadal already would be tied for fourth-most Grand Slam titles in history, trailing only Federer (16), Pete Sampras (14) and Roy Emerson (12).