Wimbledon Men’s Final 2008

Being in a different timezone sucks for watching live sport in Europe but there was no way I was going to miss this year’s Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, so up I woke at 6am and boy was it worth it!

Even though Roger has beaten him on clay, Rafa is still way ahead on that surface, as shown in the blowout of the French Open final a few weeks ago. On other surfaces, their games are much closer but still Rafa hadn’t beaten Roger on a non-clay surface in quite some time. Of course, last year’s final here at Wimbledon when they served up a classic five-setter was as close as he could get without winning . Who could know that they would surpass that today in terms of quality and excitment?

In winning 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 9-7, Nadal ended Federer’s five-year winning streak on grass and showed that he’s ready to take the number 1 spot. It was by far the greatest tennis match I’ve ever seen and definitely one of the greatest sporting events of all time. I was happy to hear this backed up by John McEnroe among many others. I watched the match on NBC where McEnroe was commentating and he was as in awe of what he was seeing as much as any other viewer.

Right after the match when the players had just come off the court, McEnroe had a quick interview with each player which was probably not seen on BBC. In the on-court interviews Nadal and Federer were both as gracious and magnanimous as always but a few minutes later Federer opened up a little bit more and was almost in tears.

But well done to Rafa and let’s hope these two continue to meet in finals for a few more years.

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