Magnus wants to be Norman the first

The moment of truth will come when the Swede steps out onto the Centre Court looking to mow down mop-haired Brazilian Kuerten in his first ever Grand Slam final.

Third-seeded Norman has dominated his opponents to date, dropping just one set when Russian 12th seed Marat Safin pushed him to four sets in the quarter-finals.

But he will play against an opponent who never says die.

That’s because fifth seed Kuerten has managed to comeback from the brink in both of his last encounters.

He was on the ropes against Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarter-finals, trailing the Russian by two sets to one, 4-2 and 40-15 before starting his comeback.

Kuerten staged a similar escape act here three years ago against the same player in the same round on his way to winning what remains his only Grand Slam title.

In yesterday’s semi-final he looked down and out once more against tough young Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, trailing by two sets to one and 1-3 in the fourth set before pulling off a Houdini act to pull the match out of the fire and win 7-5, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

As he admitted afterwards, “if you’re not mentally prepared you’re not gonna win it.”

Kuerten says having previously won the tournament will bea big advantage against Norman.

“To have won here that time has helped me to escape some bad situations and turn matches around. I’ll draw on the experience of winning here before. I hope this will be an advantage for me,” said the Brazilian, who insists he will be fighting fit come Sunday afternoon.

Two factors look set to work in Norman’s favour, however.

The first is his dazzling form, as the Swede has been super-efficient all through the fortnight.

Norman, 24, barely broke sweat in his semi, playing what he called “a perfect match” as he crushed unseeded Franco Squillari of Argentina 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, his fluid groundstrokes and near flawless footwork both knock-out weapons.

Norman, who has won nine career titles to date, is aiming to be the first Swedish champion here since Mats Wilander won his third title here in 1988.

Second factor which suggests Norman is heading for glory is that there are question marks against Kuerten’s fitness.

The Brazilian has spent three-and-a-half hours longer on court than his rival so far — and he has been carrying a back muscle injury for several weeks. He was also suffering from a thigh strain against Ferrero.

Kuerten won his last meeting with Norman in the Hamburg Masters Series quarter-finals last month, going on to take the title and take their career series to 3-2 in his favour.

But two of those wins — in Stuttgart and the US Open last year — came when Norman had to pull out injured in the early stages of both matches.

The pair split two matches last month as Norman won the final of the Rome Masters Series before losing in Hamburg.

On that occasion he said presciently: “I’m glad it happened today and not at the French Open.”

With Kuerten coming off two five-setters and his backstill a problem the pendulum could swing back once more towards Norman.

The unassuming Swede, who says he’s got to be about the most “boring” player on the men’s tour, has enjoyed a superb run this year, stacking up titles in Auckland and at the Rome Masters Series.

Kuerten has taken titles in Santiago and Hamburg.

Both have similar clay court record this year with Kuerten having a 27-6 win-loss record compared with 21-5 for Norman.

Norman admitted he finds relaxing the hardest thing of all. “It’s the truth — I’ve always been like that,” he told reporters.

Until he’s pocketed his first Grand Slam title relaxation is the last thing on the cool Swede’s mind.

That’s because he knows against Kuerten, even if he’s two sets up the contest will still be far from over.