WIMBLEDON — Rafael Nadal’s first Grand Slam title off clay was never going to be easy, but who knew that the Spaniard would have to come through arguably the greatest men’s final ever in his phenomenal 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(8), 9-7 victory over five-time defending champion Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final?
Maybe only the 22-year-old Spaniard, who defined heroic in an epic four-hour, 48-minute contest in which Federer equally proved deserving of the title, but in the end, was stopped by a indomitable man who was finally able to bury his nerves and close out his fifth Grand Slam with a extraordinary fifth-set display.
“Probably my hardest loss, by far,” a despondent Federer said.
Had he lost the match, where he was in control in every set, Nadal may have never mentally recovered from the defeat. As hard as he’s worked to become a better fast-court player, winning major championships over legends such as Federer on quick courts are all about seizing the few chances you have earned.
It took Nadal until dusk nearly fell to do so, when after watching Federer come up with three rip-roaring winners on his first three match points, the 12-time Grand Slam winner finally shrugged and nudged an easy forehand into the net in a match where winners ruled the day.
Nadal then slid on to the few blades of grass that were left in the middle of the baseline, rolled around in the dirt, ran up to hug his family and friends and then scooted over to the Royal Box to shake hands with Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain, the first player to make the approach to royalty in history.
“It’s a special feeling,” who became the first Spaniard since Manuel Santana in ‘66 to win Wimbledon. “It’s unbelievable for me to have a title here. I always, when I was a kid, I dream to play here, but to win is amazing.”
The sport’s soon-to-be new king then cried for a good 10 minutes — from joy, relief, triumph — you name it.
Since ‘05, four-time French Open champ Nadal has been striding diligently to grab his first major off clay, but he was stymied time and time again, including in the ‘06 and ‘07 Wimbledon finals against Federer. But he’s a much-improved player now, with a more consistent and hard-to-read serve, a brutish two-handed backhand that, at times, rivals his thuggish forehand in power, and a willingness to trust his hands at net.
The ‘08 version of Nadal put to rest any thoughts that he’s merely a souped-up version of three-time French Open titlist Gustavo Kuerten. In good health, it looks like he could go down as one of the greatest ever.
Nadal nearly lost the match on three different occasions, or more appropriately, the driven Federer nearly stole it from him in his attempt to become the first man in Open Era to win Wimbledon on six successive occasions.
Nadal nearly lost control of the match in the fourth set tiebreaker, when he held two match points. Just before that, leading 5-4 in the fourth set, he couldn’t capitalize on a 30-love lead on the Swiss’ serve. A set prior in the third, Nadal held three break points at 3-3, but lost his way.
But there would be no whining. His tough-minded uncle and coach, Toni, taught him that.
“When you lose, it’s your fault, not mine,” the coach laid to his student. “It’s not the rackets, the balls or the wind. In life there are so many people that blame others, and I don’t like that. “
At the outset, it clearly looked like it was Nadal’s time to win his first Wimbledon crown as he pounded Federer with heavy, deep forays off the ground, incredible sprints side to side and toward the net, remarkable returns, amazing touch and a serve that isn’t incredibly powerful, but one that stays low and is almost impossible to attack. Federer couldn’t get his serve uncorked often enough, had to work incredibly hard to win points at the net and, as well as he struck his forehand, Nadal kept chugging.
Then came the third set, where Federer began to get more comfortable dancing to his left and unleashing his ferocious forehand everywhere: down the middle and close to the baseline, crosscourt, inside out and down the line. His bombs down the tee found the mark, his slice serve out wide to the deuce court and flat one out wide to the ad court bit viciously.
Nadal bent, but didn’t break. After he fought off four break points to 3-3, Federer hung his head and started his service game sloppy, going down 0-40. The match certainly could have been lost there, but the Spaniard got a little tight and Federer, who had gallantly ruled the lawns since ‘03, sensed that his rival was a bit nervous. Two errors by Nadal and service winner by Federer and the Swiss held, as he bellowed out a full-throated “C’mon!’ Federer was surely back in the match and in the tiebreaker, he smoked four aces, including one out wide on set point to take it 7-5.
Yet Nadal kept churning, believing that the sheer force of will that brought him to a blowout win over Federer at the French Open in June would carry him through. It almost did, but Federer’s forehand was now piercing the court and the one-handed backhand that Nadal repeatedly attacked at Roland Garros was holding up reasonably well. At 4-5, Federer shook a bit to go down 0-30. But once again Nadal grew tentative and the Swiss held.
The fourth set tiebreaker brought back memories of the John McEnroe-Bjorn Borg fifth-set sudden death in the ‘80 Wimbledon final, the most famous tiebreaker of all time, which McEnroe won in spectacular fashion 18-16.
This one between Nadal and Federer wasn’t as long, but featured numerous thrilling points. It looked once again like Nadal was going to seize his first Wimbledon title. But up 5-2 with two serves on his racket, he stuttered badly, double faulting and pushing a backhand into the net to 5-4, where in clear frustration, he nearly buried his racket into the turf. “I played a terrible two points,” Nadal said.
But then Nadal fought off a set point when Federer erred on a forehand. The Swiss then missed a forehand long. On Nadal’s first match point, Federer went to his money serve, the flat one out wide to the ad court and came up with a service winner. Yet Nadal responded brilliantly. On the full stretch, he came up with a phenomenal forehand passing shot down the line.
Federer had an answer and in one of the most clutch shots of his career, match point down 8-7, Nadal hooked a forehand to his backhand, decided to charge the net and the Swiss ripped a backhand pass down the line to 8-8. He then nailed a forehand winner and watched Nadal miss a backhand to secure the tiebreaker 10-7 and evened it at two sets all.
“He was really nervous,” Federer said. “He didn’t make the returns he usually does. He couldn’t play aggressive.”
“I really thought that he was feeling it really a lot, maybe the first time in his life. So I was hoping, with the momentum going into the fifth set, that it was going to be enough. But I couldn’t really play maybe my best when I really had to. But Rafa served well and played well and deserved to win in the end.”
In ‘80, McEnroe thought he had the match nearly in the bag after winning his tiebreaker but forgot how much more fit Borg was and how much he trusted his shots on the lawns. Borg came away with the fifth set 8-6 and his fifth straight title.
Nadal could have let down then, but didn’t, and was possibly saved by a 20-minute rain break at 2-2. In the locker room, Toni told him, “Concentrate and use your head.”
Back on court, he had more jump in his step and zip on his returns. At 3-4, Federer held his sole break point and the Spaniard ripped a forehand down the line, crunched an overhead and eventually held to 4-4. Nadal held two break points at 5-5, but Federer gunned an ace and a heavy forehand.
Then at 7-7, Nadal swam straight through the Swiss tide and turned it. After Federer fought off three break points, he rushed a forehand approach shot long.
“Rafa keeps you thinking, and that’s what the best players do to each other in the end,” Federer said.
At 8-7, Nadal dispensed with his nerves. Federer fought off another match point with a Seeing Eye crosscourt backhand return of serve winner, but then Nadal seared a service winner and Federer finally cracked with a forehand error, his 65-match winning streak on grass stopped cold by a red-hot Spaniard.
“When I lost the fourth set I was sitting down, and just said, ‘Well, I am playing well. I am with very good positive attitude, so gonna continue like this,’” said Nadal, who became the first man since the great Borg in ‘80 to win the French Open and Wimbledon back to back. “I felt confident with myself, so for that reason I was confident in the fifth. I’m just very happy because I played with very positive attitude all the time, fighting a lot. So to win here is unbelievable for me.”
No. 2 Nadal is now within shouting distance of Federer in the rankings, 545 points behind the Swiss and entering a part of the season where he doesn’t have nearly as many points to defend. From mid-July through the U.S. Open, Federer has some 1,850 points to defend to only 380 from Nadal. The sport could soon have its first new No. 1 since February ‘04.
Whether Nadal can hold up during the summer hard-court stretch is questionable, as it’s the time of year after a brutal clay- and grass-court stretch where he usually gets injured and falters. But there’s no doubt he’s been the best player of ‘08 and that now, when he faces Federer, whom he is now 12-6 against, he’ll be the definitive favorite until the Swiss has proved that he’s figured out a way to beat him.
That’s pretty heady stuff for a kid from Mallorca who didn’t see a grass court until he got off his cozy island.
“Now people will stop saying that he can play only on clay,” Toni said. “Wimbledon is the most important tournament, the one that we have been working toward and dreaming about.”
