There was sigh! There was agony! There was pain! The Endurance was unending!. Atlast Federer might have thought "Let's give this boy some respite". Yes, Rafel Nadal, affectionately called as "Rafa", became the new King of the Centre Court at Wimbledon. It was a perfect finish, The match had all the drama and tennis at its finesse, even Borg was there to witness the epic battle between the Emperor and the Gladiator.
It was a heartstopping classic. Look at the results 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7, with the match starting at 2:30 Pm and ending at 9:30 pm, with the weather god interrupting twice to give the fans something to catch their breath.
At the start Rafa was my Favourite. He started immediately by forcing Federer to his backhand, so he could not get near the nets. Such was the sting and the precision of Rafa's looping forehand that Feddie has to stay back and the first set was claimed by Rafa. The next 48minutes, Rafa claimed another... I thought "man.. History is near...Rafa, come on, hang on for one more set". But the weather gods were enjoying this match too, that they wanted this match to extend a little. There was a little break, if it wasn't for rain, the course of the match would have been a little different, and the world would have missed such an epic that'd be remembere
d forever in the minds of the fans. The rain might have given fresh insight into the minds of Feddie...The King started claiming his Domain. Federer's counter-attack was immediate and it rushed him into a three-game lead in the third set which he extended to an apparently commanding 4-1 with his sixth and seventh aces, only for the irrepressible Nadal to bounce back with some thrilling, all-action stuff. To Federer's visible anger, his serve was broken as a stretched volley flew out of play and Nadal pulled level at 4-4 as Federer squandered yet another break point.
Now Nadal was in full, thrilling flow, breaking Federer again to lead 5-4 with another hu
ge forehand and celebrating with pumped fists. As he was serving for the second set, Nadal received a warning from umpire Pascal Maria of France for taking too long between serves.Clearly unsettled by the timing of that censure, the Spaniard permitted Federer another break point on a wind-caused error, but in typical fashion dug deep and clinched the set when Federer once more mistimed a backhand into the netting. So, having swept five games, Nadal was in the driving set, two sets ahead.
Nadal's authority suffered a scare in the third game of the third set when he slipped in making a sudden change of direction and called in the trainer to check on his right knee. No time-out was requested by Nadal, though his speed around court appeared to be affected for a while.
He was at full stretch in the next game, fighting off two Federer break points and, as dark clouds began to mass over Centre Court, the champion went flat out to recover a set and get back into the match. But four more break points went begging as Nadal held for 3-3 before wasting three break points of his own which would have put him 4-3 ahead and perfectly positioned to win.
Instead, with Federer leading 5-4, the expected downpour set in and play was held up for one hour 20 minutes. On the resumption it was Federer who dominated when a tie-break was needed to resolve the set, hammering four aces to take it by seven points to five.
The fourth set did not contain a single break point for either man and when the second tie-break of the match arrived it was a sensation, with Nadal first leading by five points to two and then reaching, and missing, two Championship points before Federer levelled at two sets all when a Nadal backhand error left him the winner by 10 points to eight.
Another downpour drove the players off court for half an hour with the score at 2-2 in the final set and when they returned the light was fading. But the spirit of both finalists burned bright as they hammered the ball at each other just as eagerly as they had done when this marathon first began.
At 3-4 Nadal saved a break point which would have left Federer serving for the title. At 6-6 Federer saved a couple of break points. Finally, in the gloom, the Spaniard broke to lead 8-7 when Federer struck a forehand too long.
So Nadal served for the match again, getting to his third Championship point only for Federer to hit an incredible backhand service return. Deuce once again, but Nadal moved to his fourth match point with a big serve and, with the crowd going wild, Federer finally cracked, dumping a forehand in the net.
It was late, very late, but not too late for the coronation of a new king to begin.
Instead, with Federer leading 5-4, the expected downpour set in and play was held up for one hour 20 minutes. On the resumption it was Federer who dominated when a tie-break was needed to resolve the set, hammering four aces to take it by seven points to five.
The fourth set did not contain a single break point for either man and when the second tie-break of the match arrived it was a sensation, with Nadal first leading by five points to two and then reaching, and missing, two Championship points before Federer levelled at two sets all when a Nadal backhand error left him the winner by 10 points to eight.
Another downpour drove the players off court for half an hour with the score at 2-2 in the final set and when they returned the light was fading. But the spirit of both finalists burned bright as they hammered the ball at each other just as eagerly as they had done when this marathon first began.
At 3-4 Nadal saved a break point which would have left Federer serving for the title. At 6-6 Federer saved a couple of break points. Finally, in the gloom, the Spaniard broke to lead 8-7 when Federer struck a forehand too long.
So Nadal served for the match again, getting to his third Championship point only for Federer to hit an incredible backhand service return. Deuce once again, but Nadal moved to his fourth match point with a big serve and, with the crowd going wild, Federer finally cracked, dumping a forehand in the net.
