Best Match Ever

For the first time since 2003 someone other than Roger Federer has won Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal needed 4 hours and 48 minutes and every bit of skill he possesses to finally beat the world’s #1 player at the All England Club. Nadal won 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 and became the first player to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Bjorn Borg did it in 1980.

Nadal wasn’t the only one chasing history on Sunday however as Federer was so close to becoming the first man since the 1880s to win a sixth consecutive championship at the All England Club. Instead however Federer was forced to sit alone in his chair with his thoughts in his very posh RF sweater and think about what might have been.

Federer went down to 2 sets to 0 but fought back bravely and even staved off two Championship Points in the fourth set. However history was against him as no man since 1927 had come back to win a Wimbledon final after losing the first two sets, and none had overcome a match point to seize victory since 1948. There was a feeling that if anyone could do it though it would be Roger Federer, especially since it was on grass. Going into Sunday's final he hadn't lost a match on grass since 2002, and he also hadn't lost a set during this tournament before Sunday.

That was all before Rafael Nadal though. Nadal, who everyone has now labeled as the new greatest player in the world, in one year he embarrassed Federer at the French Open and then took him to his limits and beat him at his best surface at Wimbledon. For Nadal this was his fifth Grand Slam title and his first away from the French Open shaking the claim that he was a one surface player who couldn’t do well anywhere else.

As far as the Federer vs. Nadal rivalry goes it was their sixth Grand Slam final, already more than between any other pair of men in the 40-year Open era. There could be many to follow though as Federer is only 26 and Nadal is 22. Federer has led the rankings for a record 231 consecutive weeks, and Nadal has been second for a record 154.

I personally thought the match was one of the most exciting sporting events that I had watched since March Madness in the final game with Kansas and Memphis. The only thing I didn’t like was how Rafael Nadal was running around in the stands hugging people and shaking hands immediately after his win. You are supposed to show some class and to me that shows disrespect to his opponent. Other than that an absolutely amazing match that everyone should have watched and it would give people a new found respect for the game of tennis. I know it did for me.