"Normal play is resumed" wasn't just the announcement over the public address system after one of Friday afternoon's rain delays, but also the realisation early in his demolition of Marc Gicquel that the champion's reign on Centre Court is still very much ongoing.

The world No.1 has shunned the hype suggesting he was ripe for the picking. As Novak Djorkovic failed to sustain his threat beyond the second round and Rafael Nadal suffered blips, the defending champion has yet to concede a set. Wins against Dominik Hrbaty, Robin Soderling and Marc Gicquel have seen him safely into the second week.

On course for the final and a pop at a record sixth successive Wimbledon title, his next opponent is the Australian, former champion Hewitt. The last man to win the SW19 grand slam before Federer got greedy, Hewitt is also the man who helped hone the mental steeliness Federer has needed to succeed.

One of the key results in Federer's education was when Hewitt battered him in the 2003 Davis Cup. By then, Federer had won his first Wimbledon and was closing in on the world No.1 berth. On the ascent and feeling unbeatable, Hewitt proved otherwise. It was the semi-final of the World Group competition, and Australia against Switzerland.

The honours went to Hewitt. The need for inner analysis and reassessment was all Federer's. He had been two sets up but Hewitt had found a way back in, via his tenacity and and movement. It was a defeat which moulded the Federer we know now. The man who strives for perfection but has so far had to settle for excellence, a sublime player on every surface, although it is on grass where he is a tennis magician, producing shots which would be unimaginable even for those who share the locker room.

He addresses his so-called weaknesses whenever they surface. Fitness has been honed, movement enhanced, techniques suited to particular surfaces mastered in painstaking practice sessions and every winter there is a determination to improve rather than rest on his plentiful laurels.

He is a man who thrives on being the best, partly because he knows how he had to strive for it in the first place. As well as that defeat by Hewitt in Melbourne, he had the memories of the Master Series event in Canada that year. Presented with the chance to become world No.1 if he won the event, he choked. It was the last time. Lessons had been learned. By the time he reached the Master Series final, he was tougher. He isn't infallible but he doesn't choke.

On clay, at Roland Garros recently, the experience was a painful one. The look of despair as Nadal again dominated him there was born of frustration. No matter how hard he tries, how seriously he tries to adapt, it just doesn't seem to be enough. On grass, though, he is the man who puts others through that anguish.

Andy Roddick, twice beaten in the Wimbledon final by the Swiss genius, has joked that opponents would have to resort to underhand tactics to get beyond him. As it is, without breaking his leg on the way to court, collectively they have tried and, on 62 consecutive occasions thus far, they have failed.

For all the talk that this year could mark the end of his Wimbledon reign, early signs are there will be no abdication. In 2003, 2005 and 2006 he progressed through to the end losing just one set, in 2004, it was just two – one of those to Hewitt – last year it was three. But now he is back to his miserly best. Even Hewitt admits it will take something special, allied to a poor day at the office from Federer, to alter that pattern.

"Obviously, you treat him differently, you have got to work out tactics, but for the last five years no-one has been able to get it right here. No-one has ever got that close to him. I'm going to have to play extremely well and a lot depends on how he plays as well," he says.

Maybe Federer isn't the power he was over the past five years, someone suggested. The rueful smile says it all. "I think he feels comfortable. He has played all his matches on Centre Court so far again this year and he feels right at home on that stage. I think he's gonna still have that aura and that self-confidence behind him."

Hewitt played his part in creating Federer and, in offering the motivation needed to perfect his psyche, he created a tennis monster, but while the scientist in Mary Shelley's novel was called Victor Frankenstein, the most likely victor tomorrow will be an in-form Federer intent on proving the doubters wrong.