Wimbledon has been taken over by the “King of Clay”! After a 4 hour, 48 minute final match, victory and the 2008 Wimbledon Championship title was snatched from world number one, Roger Federer, and handed to the Spanish “Beast” Rafael Nadal, putting an end to Federer’s 5 year run and resulting in Rafael Nadal's newest title (as of Monday, August 18th 2008), World Number One!
The consistently breathtaking classic, ending in 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7, began at 2.35pm and finished at 9.15pm, due to the endless breaks for rain, which thankfully allowed spectators to catch their breath, and left the newly turned 22 year old lying on the grass with outstretched arms.
Watching the match from the royal box was legendary tennis player, Bjorn Borg, who Nadal had tied the record with for winning both the Roland Garros Championship title, on the clay courts of France, and the Wimbledon Championship title, on the grass courts of England, in the same year.
Roger Federer seemed no match for the Spaniard throughout the first two sets. Stopping the game due to the rain fall seemed just the ticket to get Federer playing to his usual graceful standards. Federer tried hard to be the first man since Henri Cochet in 1927 to come back from a two-sets-to-none match but unfortunately this didn’t work.
Although Federer took the next two sets (both with tie breakers at the end), and saved 4 championship points in both sets from Nadal, the Majorcan took the final set at an amazing nine-games-to-seven and became the first Spaniard to capture the Wimbledon title since Manuel Santana in 1966.
Federer was aiming this year to beat Bjorn Borg’s record of 5 consecutive wins on the grass courts of Wimbledon but unfortunately this wasn’t his year. He still owns 12 major titles, but is still two victories shy of Pete Sampras’ record total of 14 major titles. Perhaps Sampras will be able to hold onto this record, as he wishes, considering that both Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been making the way for his victory, seem impossible.
All we know for sure is that “The Beast” won’t stop at the 2008 Wimbledon Championship and that this rivalry between Federer and Nadal has been the greatest we’ve ever seen – there is defiantly more to look forward to in the next few years.
The consistently breathtaking classic, ending in 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7, began at 2.35pm and finished at 9.15pm, due to the endless breaks for rain, which thankfully allowed spectators to catch their breath, and left the newly turned 22 year old lying on the grass with outstretched arms.
Watching the match from the royal box was legendary tennis player, Bjorn Borg, who Nadal had tied the record with for winning both the Roland Garros Championship title, on the clay courts of France, and the Wimbledon Championship title, on the grass courts of England, in the same year.
Roger Federer seemed no match for the Spaniard throughout the first two sets. Stopping the game due to the rain fall seemed just the ticket to get Federer playing to his usual graceful standards. Federer tried hard to be the first man since Henri Cochet in 1927 to come back from a two-sets-to-none match but unfortunately this didn’t work.
Although Federer took the next two sets (both with tie breakers at the end), and saved 4 championship points in both sets from Nadal, the Majorcan took the final set at an amazing nine-games-to-seven and became the first Spaniard to capture the Wimbledon title since Manuel Santana in 1966.
Federer was aiming this year to beat Bjorn Borg’s record of 5 consecutive wins on the grass courts of Wimbledon but unfortunately this wasn’t his year. He still owns 12 major titles, but is still two victories shy of Pete Sampras’ record total of 14 major titles. Perhaps Sampras will be able to hold onto this record, as he wishes, considering that both Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been making the way for his victory, seem impossible.
All we know for sure is that “The Beast” won’t stop at the 2008 Wimbledon Championship and that this rivalry between Federer and Nadal has been the greatest we’ve ever seen – there is defiantly more to look forward to in the next few years.
Reported by Gurpreet Kaur Sihat
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