Roger Federer will have mixed emotions if he equals Bjorn Borg's record of five successive Wimbledon titles. Borg dominated Wimbledon for five years between 1976 and 1980 and Federer is odds-on to emulate that achievement but, while the Swiss would love to earn a share of the record, Borg is one of his idols and he knows exactly what the feat means to him.
Federer, who starts his All-England Club campaign against Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvili on Monday, revealed that Borg called to thank him when he beat Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 2001, denying the American a chance to win a fifth consecutive title.
But Borg is a great admirer of Federer and the Swede has said if anyone is to etch their name alongside his in the history books, it should be the current world number one.
The appreciation is mutual. "When I beat Pete Sampras to stop him winning five Wimbledon titles, Borg called me up and thanked me for breaking Pete's streak and keeping his alive," Federer said.
"So it's ironic that I'm going for it now. "I heard he's coming here for the final weekend. I hope I'll be there too. "I think Bjorn was one of the most wonderful players we ever had in the game.
"I've seen his documentary on TV. It was just interesting to see how popular he made tennis and how successful he was. Without even trying to be the centre of attention, he always was. His attitude on court was always cool.
"It kind of makes you wonder, my god it's such a pity he walked away at 25. He could have played so much more." Federer loves to watch television footage of the game's greats, so he had to pinch himself when he got the opportunity to test him against Borg in person during an impromptu practice session in Dubai.
It is the kind of match-up that would have tennis purists drooling if both players could have met at their peak and Federer admitted he was in awe of his opponent.
"He was playing the Legends Rock Dubai exhibition match against John McEnroe," Federer said. "I was thinking it may be the only opportunity to ever play with Bjorn. I needed to hit anyway so I asked somebody who knew Bjorn if he had time to hit.
"He called me back right away and said 'no problem, I'm ready'. It was just incredible to see him play, then to hit with him was a lot of fun. God I couldn't believe it. I guess it was a special moment.
"We kind of played for some points. I don't remember who won. We only played a couple of games. It was more for fun. "We just talked in general about what he's doing now, how I'm doing and just talked about tennis a little bit." If Federer is to equal Borg's record he will have to do it with no grass court preparation after he opted not to play at the Halle tournament. He has won the event four years in a row as part of his 48-match unbeaten run on grass, but insists rest and relaxation after his French Open final defeat against Rafael Nadal was more important.
"It was obviously a tough call because of the success I've had at Halle," he said. "If you're superstitious you would think I have to play there again, but I'm not that type of person.
"I have to look after my health first. I felt my back and groin and I didn't want to take a chance because the last two years were difficult enough after the French Open. "I feel more rested because I had more days off. But then at the same time I was missing matches maybe a little bit. But in practice I'm hitting the ball well and the transition to grass is always very easy for me because it feels so natural."