Finest Match in Wimbeldon History Hands Title to Nadal
WIMBLEDON, England — Behold the new king of tennis.
© Toby Melville / Reuters
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland in their finals match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London July 6, 2008.
Rafael Nadal, the 22-year-old from Spain with the boyish face and bulging biceps, took his place among the game's greatest players yesterday by beating five-time defending Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in a dazzling, tense, rain-interrupted final that will be remembered, when the last word is spoken about this wonderful sport, as the finest match in its history.
When Federer hit the final ball, a routine forehand that landed in the net, it was 9:16 p.m., the latest a final has ever ended at the All England Club. No Wimbledon has lasted as long, either: four hours and 48 minutes. Nadal dropped to his back and sprawled out on the well-worn dirt behind the baseline as Centre Court lit up with hundreds of flashes from the 15,000 who arrived almost eight hours earlier, their hopes for a historic match realized beyond any imagination.
Nadal is more than the Wimbledon champion by the score of 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(8), 9-7. He is the French Open champion and Wimbledon champion in the same year, the first time that feat has been accomplished since 1980, when Bjorn Borg did it for the third straight year. He's also the best tennis player in the world, no matter what the rankings say. Federer's streak of weeks at no. 1 will continue — 231 and counting — despite the end of his 65-match winning streak on grass and 40-match winning streak at Wimbledon. But it will be a streak in number only, a vagary of the ranking system. Nadal, for the first time in his career, is on top.
After the match ended, Nadal climbed into the player's box and walked the walls of Centre Court all the way to the Royal Box, where Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain embraced him (no player had ever paid the royals a visit after winning the title). Nadal then returned to his chair and cried as he waited to receive his trophy. A week ago, Spain celebrated a victory in the Euro Cup. Now that Nadal has joined the party, it's safe to say the Spanish will remain sleep-deprived for at least a few more days.
"It's a dream to play in this court," Nadal said. "But win, I never imagine something like this."
Federer was glum but gracious in his post-match press conference. He described the loss as the hardest of his career "by far."
Everyone knew that to pry the Wimbledon title from Federer's hands, Nadal would have to play the best tennis of his life. In last year's final, he pushed Federer to a fifth set but could not convert several chances in the match's final stages. In the year since, he improved every aspect of his game, and he arrived at Wimbledon fitter and more confident than ever. He lost just one set en route to the final.
Early on in the final, it looked as if Nadal might lose only one set for the tournament. Both players began at a high level, but it was Nadal who was a little faster, a little better at anticipating the path of the ball, a little more consistent with his forehand. He won the second set under mostly blue skies and nearly took the third before a prolonged shower sent the players to the locker room. When Federer returned, he was a new man. For the next hour, he didn't miss a forehand. He hit line after line with his serve and attacked Nadal with volleys. He won the third set in a tie-break and then stunned Nadal by recovering from a 5-2 deficit in the fourth set tie-break. Up against his first match point at Wimbledon since 2002, Federer hit a 127 mph serve for a winner. Moments later Nadal served for the match, but Federer, his Wimbledon reign in jeopardy, kept himself alive with the shot of his life, a backhand down the line that left Nadal sulking at the net. To the fifth set they went — at least, until the rain came again at 2-2.
By then, it was 8 p.m. and it seemed history — either Federer's record-breaking sixth consecutive title or Nadal's French Open and Wimbledon double — would have to wait until Monday. As it turned out, Nadal had just enough time to end it. He saved a break point at 3-4 and then began to pressure Federer more with each passing game. Federer kept up the fight, fending off break points with an ace, a hard serve, a booming forehand. Nadal, known for his calm and his stamina, would not relent. When he did break for an 8-7 lead and a chance to serve out the match, the crowd at first didn't know what had happened: They didn't hear the call and couldn't see the ball in the fading light. Federer saved a match point in the last game with a return-of-serve winner, but Nadal composed himself, hit a blistering serve, and then watched in surprise as Federer made one last mistake, minutes before play would have been called because of darkness.
"In the last game, I didn't see nothing," Nadal said. "Was unbelievable."
It was better than that.
Mr. Perrotta is a senior editor at Tennis magazine. He can be reached at tperrotta@tennismagazine.com.
