WIMBLEDON ROUNDUP
It’s been a thrilling couple of weeks at SW19 and it culminated Sunday evening in what may go down as one of the greatest matches of all time.
After 4hrs and 48 minutes, Rafael Nadal is the new Wimbledon Champion, beating the defending five time champion Roger Federer 6-4 6-4 6-7(5-7) 6-7(8-10) 9-7. And it was no more than the Spaniard deserved. Nadal was out of the blocks quicker than his Swiss counterpart and broke serve as early as the 3rd game. Federer had a chance to break back straight away, however Nadal held on and went on to win the first set 6-4.
At the start of the second set Federer came out fighting and broke Nadal to take a 4-1 lead early on, however the Spaniard fought back impressively winning the next five games, including two breaks of the World Number One’s serve to take the second set 6-4.
At 3-3 and 0-40 in the third set Federer looked down and out, however he roused himself and managed to stay ahead on serve at 5-4 before the rain came for the first time in the afternoon. 80 minutes later the players were back on court and both players held serve to take the third set to a tie break. Some breathtaking forehands gave Federer the upper hand and he sealed the third set with an unstoppable ace. Now the match everyone wanted was on.
The fourth set brought more drama as both players held of break points to set up another tie break. With the Centre Court divided between the two players, Nadal stormed to a 5-2 lead in the tie break and had two serves to win the match. Federer won both points and went on to have a set point of his own denied. At 7-7 all Nadal played what could be seen as the shot of the tournament smashing a running left hand forehand past Federer and down the line for 8-7 and a chance to serve out the match. Federer though produced his own magic. After drawing Nadal to the net, he let rip with a back hand that had the Spaniard beaten all ends up. Two points later and Federer had forced a fifth set.
At 2-2 in the fifth the rain came again and there were doubts that the final would even finish. However only a 20 minute break was needed and the players were back out. Both players produced more startling Tennis as 9 o’clock approached with both players holding serve. Then, the breakthrough. At 7-7 Federer, who had already saved three break points in the game, finally crumbled and Nadal led 8-7 with the task of serving out the match. He did so, and as Federer smashed a forehand into the net, Nadal collapsed to the floor in celebration before beginning his journey into the stands to celebrate with his family.
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