[The GREATEST Tennise Match Rafael Nadal’s victory over Roger Federer in 2008 Wimbledon final,]

Jack007

*--“It's sort of always nice to be part of them. Probably later on in life, you know, I'll go, ‘That was a great match’.”
That had been Roger Federer’s modest assessment immediately after losing the 2008 Wimbledon final to Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7.

...The superlatives would be added on by the watching, awed public, who witnessing the near-5 hours of intense battle, proclaimed it the Greatest match of Tennis ever played.

~So riveting was it most Britons watching the spectacle on TV did not even move to switch their lights on. At 9.20 pm, after Nadal was handed the trophy, the national power grid of UK saw a spike of 1400 megawatts.
The prospect of the match, meanwhile, had charged up tennis like never before. It was laden with subtext. Federer had not lost at Wimbledon for the past 5 years; Nadal had never won a Slam outside the French Open. Having won 41 matches on the trot, before the final,
..Federer was on pace to break Bjorn Borg’s & become the first person in Open era to win 6 consecutive Wimbledon titles..  

At the time Federer was widely recognised as the best player of his generation, a claim challenged only by Nadal. The Spaniard had, only a month ago, beaten Federer in straight sets at the French Open. He was getting ever so close to the Swiss master on grass as well: they had gone head 2 head on Wimbledon’s final Sunday for the last 2 y, & Nadal was creeping closer. In 2007, he stretched Federer to 5 sets.

The 2 players entered the high-stakes contest, clad in white & the enormity of the occasion written all over their faces. But there was no time 4r nerves.It was all systems go 4m the first point, when they engaged in a fierce 14-point rally,tugging each other at all corners of the court.Nadal won the opening point as he hooked a forehand winner.
Even on grass, Nadal was dogging Federer’s steps, making him doubt & dither. The Swiss could notroll past Nadal like he did against other rivals with a swish of his racquet. Nadal always there at the right place,& the right time, with a fearsome riposte and kept asking more of Federer.The 5time champion did not have enough answers in the beginning, as he lost the1stset & then the second, despite breaking him 4r a 4-1 lead.
The roles had reversed. Nadal was now the enforcer, Federer the retriever.& Nadal was winning that battle so far.
The match was interrupted by rain at 5-4 on serve 4r Federer in the 3rd set. The 80-minute breather was just what Federer needed 2 hit the reset button.
He came out ready 4r a fight and the 3d set tie-break 7-5. The forehand was sharp again & Federer fired a return winner & then a down-the-line winner 2 wrest control of the breaker at 5-2. He served it out with an ace.
But it was the 4 set, & the dramatic tie-breaker that pushed the match onto a higher plane & drew parallels with the epic battle bet John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg in the 1980 Wimbledon final. McEnroe had won that tie-break 18-16, but eventually lost the match 1–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–7(16), 8–6. It was the final against which all others were measured. 28 y later,with Borg watching 4m the stands & McEnroe commentating over it, Federer and Nadal were pushing the bar higher. They put the class into classic.
Nadal had jumped to a 5-2 lead in the tie-break and was only two points away from becoming the first Spaniard since Manuel Santana, in 1967, to win Wimbledon. But Federer leveled it to 5-5 and at match point down, closed down a lengthy rally with a backhand pass from the double alley. At 7-7, Nadal replied with some artistry of his own, squeezing a forehand pass against the stretching Federer. The Swiss kept his nerve to take the tie-breaker 10-8..

Despite having seen his 2-set lead blown away, Nadal refused to give in.
The 2 kept up with the high, unrelenting quality of play even in the fifth set, despite another rain interruption. The skies over Centre Court were darkening and the genteel surroundings of Wimbledon had taken on the look of a Colosseum closing down on two gladiators. The usually polite crowd was now gasping and applauding mid-rally as the two best players threw meaty blows at each other.

With the light 1st fading, Federer saved 2 break points in the 11th game. But he couldn’t resist the pressure exerted by Nadal 4 games later. A ripping flat backhand winner by Nadal on his 4 break point gave Nadal a decisive 8-7 lead in the decider. The referee would have brought an end 2 the proceedings had Federer broken back, but it wasn’t 2 be.
Federer saved 1 matchpoint with a backhand return, which zipped cross court at an unbelievable angle. Blindingly brilliant. But that was the last spark 4m the Federer racquet. At adv, Nadal made a safe serve that got a soft response 4m Federer. The tentative Swiss then drove a forehand volley right into the net; Nadal was flat on his back & the crowd on their feet..

Wimbledon would never witness such a late finish. It might be sometime till it witnesses such a great finish as well.

Slit69

A definite classic!! What amazes me about both players, even today, is how hard they work, even when the odds are stacked against them. If Plan A is not working they go to Plan B. If Plan B is not working they will go to Plan C. And they may even have more plans in their pocket.

Both players are so accomplished yet so humble. It is hard not to root for both at every major tournament they enter.

navinyadav74

rafa is king

leesam3

Those matches are really interesting when they are pitted against each other.

Slit69

Let's hope we get another classic in 2 weeks time!!

Chang Tikhak

Nobody can beat Rafa in clay...

rahula1234

Hope to see the same magic this year

limteh

Age is not on Federer's side but I'm still rooting for him to win!

cabrito

Certainly was a great match