Roger Federer cemented himself into tennis folk law last night by successfully defeating Rafael Nadal and claiming five Wimbledon singles titles on the bounce, equalling the great Bjorn Borg’s record.
The 26 year old Swiss, swept aside the world number two in a thrilling five set encounter, with some enthralling points that had the Wimbledon faithful on their feet in appreciation of the players skill, effort and determination of trying to gain any advantage and win the match. This was the first match Federer had been taken to five sets since beating the 14-time Grand Slam winner, Pete Sampras in 2001.
The Spaniard, still buzzing from winning his third consecutive French Open had to adapt his game from clay to grass to ensure the world number one faced a tougher task than any of his opponents in the previous rounds. The defending champion only dropped one set on his way to this final against former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter finals and generally spending far less time on court that his compatriot. Nadal on the other hand, struggled through two five set matches and spent far more time on court than Federer. He survived a scare in the third round against Robin Soderling before coming thought in the fifth 7-5, and again in the very next round against Russian, Mikhail Youzhny, more comfortably this time winning 6-2.
It doesn’t seem to matter how these two greats get to the final, through any struggles or obstacles either man faces, when the first point has been battled through, no man will be closer to winning than the other. Unlike many of Federer’s victims, the Spaniard was able to go toe to toe with one of the greatest players to ever pick up a tennis racket for the first two sets, narrowly losing out in the first on a tiebreak, and snatching the second 6-4.
Federer again went in front in the match taking the third in a close encountered tie break but in the very first game of the fourth set Nadal broke twice in the first three games taking a comfortable 4-0 lead. Despite having the trainer on for an injury on his left knee, causing Nadal huge amounts of pain when reaching up to serve, he managed to maintain his double break and took the forth set 6-2.
However this seemed to spur Federer on, looking up and playing in front of his hero Bjorn Borg, sitting in the Royal Box. Federer was not about to relinquish his ninth grand slam final appearance in a row and his 13th over all so easily and began the fifth set facing breaks points down at 15-40 in his first and second services games. But the Fed Express powered through and his impeccable serve got him to 2-2 without any breaks for either man.
Federer then found another gear and broke Nadal after a tantalisingly powerful forehand brushed the sideline and lead 4-2 in the final set showing rare emotion and punching his fist. After three hours and 45 minutes of compelling breathtaking tennis, the third longest of Wimbledon finals history, it was Federer performing a victory role and securing his 11th Grand Slam title, only three behind the great Pete Sampras.
At last there was a fantastic end to the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, with the worlds top two players competing for the greatest grand slam of the tour season in one of the greatest finals ever in Wimbledon history. The tournament overall was marred by appalling weather and the subsequent scheduling nightmares but thankfully ended on the right note with a very close and tightly contested final which will go down in the history books as one of the greatest.
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