July 6th, 2008
It's the day dreams are made of. The Wimbledon men's final. After a grueling 4 sets and a series of rain delays, the match finally looks to be heading the Spaniard's way in the prolonged 5th set tiebreak. Deathly silence reverberates across Centre Court, you can almost feel the heartbeats of the 20 thousand spectators in the stadium and the millions watching all around the world as they hold their breath in anticipation. This could be it. Championship point for Rafael Nadal. As he walks up to the baseline to serve, perhaps for the last time in this tournament, the tension in the air is palpable. He bounces the ball, once, twice, thrice...
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have had a legendary rivalry that never fails to produce an entertaining match. 2008 was the third consecutive year that they had both met in the Wimbledon final, with Federer aiming for his 6th consecutive Wimbledon trophy, and Nadal for his 1st. Ghosts of the 2007 final still haunted Nadal (after which he freely admitted he cried in the locker room), and he was looking forward to vengeance. The forecast for the day was some classic British weather, "overcast skies and light showers expected throughout the day".
The match itself started off 35 minutes late due to a rain delay, but soon after, Federer won the toss and decided to serve first. Nadal got off to a quick start, winning the first two sets extremely easily. Rafa's game plan was to hit to Federer's backhand, make him receive the ball high, and take time in the rallies, trying to find chinks in his armour. But not one to give up that easily, the Swiss number one rallied to take the next two sets in two closely fought out tiebreaks. It was some great quality of hitting from them both, four sets that were worthy of being in a Grand Slam final. But the real tennis hadn't even started yet.
The 5th and deciding set started off with some great rallies with both the players evenly matched. At 5-5 in the final set, Rafa got off to another quick start with some amazing net play to get two break points on Fed's serve. Fed played spectacularly to bring the game to deuce and managed to win the game with an outstanding display of mental strength and class. Nadal just kept coming back, if Roger hits 19 shots in a rally, the second seed managed to hit 20, he ran every shot down as if it were his last. At this point it could go either way; one bad game, and that's it: Goodbye Wimbledon. That's how close it was, with the pressure heaping on with every shot played. The atmosphere was unbelievable in the stadium with the crowd shouting 'Ro-ger Ro-ger' in between changeovers. Federer then relinquished an easy game to bring it back to 6-6 but soon after, he won on his serve with a baseline winner to take it to 7-6. Rafa was still pushing though, still unrelenting and won the next game with a fantastic passing winner, finishing it off with a magnificent fist pump. At that moment you could see in his eyes how much this match means to him, how much he wants to win, to lift that trophy. Nadal managed to win the next game on Federer's serve and then served for the championship.
At 8-7, 40-15, Rafael Nadal had his first championship point of this set, but Federer manages to save it yet again with a fabulous backhand winner that Nadal couldn't even reach to bring the score back to deuce. Rafa hits an ace to bring it to advantage, and it's championship point yet again. You can see the frustration in Federer's eyes, see that he realizes how futile this is. A forehand into the net and it's all over. 4 hours and 48 minutes of spectacular tennis over. Rafael Nadal is the 2008 Wimbledon champion and the first person since Bjorn Borg to win the French Open-Wimbledon double. Nadal falls to the ground in sheer ecstasy, just lying there for a few seconds, soaking reality in. He then leaps up to the net, to give Federer the customary handshake before climbing up through the crowd to his player box where his friends and family immediately pile up on him. The happiness is evident on their faces.
With a Spanish flag clutched in hands, in an unprecedented move, Rafa walks across the bleachers to the royal box where he shares a handshake with the visiting Spanish dignitaries. No one can help feeling sorry for Roger Federer (looking suave in his white cardigan) during the trophy presentation, who played an amazing match but couldn't finish it off when it mattered the most. Nadal closes out the ceremony with his customary trophy bite, and as he lifts up the trophy, the crowd goes wild for the bandanna wearing, muscle bound, inborn fighter from Majorca. It was a match to remember, the longest Grand Slam final ever, and a match billed by John McEnroe as "the greatest game of tennis ever played". People who witnessed it said that they saw a champion being born, the beginning of a new era and a new legend.
Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7.