User:Aaroncrick/2008 Wimbledon Championships Men's Final



The 2008 Wimbledon men's singles final, saw Rafael Nadal win his first career Wimbledon title, defeating five-time champion Roger Federer. The match was played on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London in England on 6 July 2008.

No. 1 seeded, Federer was aiming to equal William Renshaw's record of six consecutive Wimbledon titles (1881–86), and edge closer to Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles, of which Federer had 12. Nadal, the No. 2 seed and four-time French Open champion was Federer's challenger for the third consecutive year. He was aiming to become the first man since Björn Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.

Rain and lightning delayed the final, scheduled for 14:00, until 14:35 (UTC+1). The final itself was a fragmented affair, with two rain delays removing the possibility of an uninterrupted final. However, the playing time made it the longest final in Wimbledon history, at four hours and 48 minutes.

Nadal began well, winning the first set 6–4 in just under an hour, and taking the second by the same scoreline, despite having been down 4–1 at one point. The third set was interrupted by rain delays but the players returned to finish the set with a tie break, which Federer won by seven points to five. The fourth mirrored the third by also going to a tie break, in which Nadal took a 5–2 lead. Nadal was on serve before serving a double fault and hitting a backhand forced error into the net. Later in the tie break, Nadal had two championship points, including one on his serve, which he squandered, with Federer triumphing 10-8, forcing a final set. The fifth set went only four games before another rain delay; with the score at 2–2 (40–40) upon the resumption. Nadal eventually prevailed, winning the final set 9–7, at 21:16 local time. Nadal celebrated his win by climbing to his family in the crowd, including coach Toni Nadal, and then traversed a roofed area to shake hands with members of Spanish royalty. Pundit and three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe lauded it as "the greatest match I have ever seen."