2008 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles final

The 2008 Wimbledon Championships Men's Singles final was the championship tennis match of the men's singles tournament at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. A part of the storied Federer–Nadal rivalry, it pitted then-top ranked Roger Federer against then second-ranked Rafael Nadal. After 4 hours and 48 minutes of play, Nadal defeated Federer 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7. The match is regarded by many as one of the greatest tennis matches ever played.[lower-alpha 1]

Wimbledon 2008 Men's Final
Switzerland Roger Federer (1) vs. Spain Rafael Nadal (2)
Set 1 2345
Switzerland Roger Federer 4 4777107
Spain Rafael Nadal 6 665689
Date6 July 2008[1]
TournamentThe Championships, Wimbledon
LocationCentre Court, All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London, England
Chair umpirePascal Maria
Duration4 hours 48 minutes
Main articles: 2008 Wimbledon Championships and 2008 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles

Background
Main article: Federer–Nadal rivalry

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have a storied rivalry that many consider to be the greatest in tennis history.[15][16][17][18][19] As they entered the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, the two men had combined to win 14 of the previous 16 Grand Slam titles.

The 2008 Wimbledon Men's Singles final was the third consecutive year in which Federer and Nadal had met in the finals of Wimbledon. Federer had won not only both previous meetings, but had also been the Wimbledon champion the previous five years.

Nadal, on the other hand, had just won the French Open for the fourth time in a row, having defeated Federer in their third consecutive final encounter, and was trying to achieve the rare French Open-Wimbledon double (Channel Slam). This feat was known to be extremely difficult because it required the player to make the switch from a slow clay surface to a fast grass surface within a month. In the Open Era of tennis, only two men had previously achieved this feat: Rod Laver and Björn Borg. Since this showdown match, Federer has completed the French Open/Wimbledon double in 2009, Nadal achieved the feat for the second time in 2010, and Novak Djokovic achieved it in 2021.

Federer contracted mononucleosis around December 2007 and received medical clearance to train normally and compete on 20 February 2008, five days before the 2008 Dubai Tennis Championships started.[20] Some analysts wondered whether his physical recovery was complete by the time of Wimbledon.[21][22] Others disagreed and considered that Federer's vestiges of fatigue were no longer visible during the 2008 clay season.[23] On the other hand, in an interview for Movistar, Nadal stated that his foot was severely injured, requiring anesthesia before the match, and "had to play with my foot asleep".[24]

Match details
Federer serving for the third set against Nadal in the Wimbledon final

Although the players were due on court at 14:00 BST on 6 July 2008, rain delayed the start of the match by about 35 minutes. The umpire was Pascal Maria.

Nadal won the first two sets 6–4, 6–4 (he won the second set by winning 5 consecutive games after trailing 1–4), and had triple break point at 3–3, 0–40 on Federer's serve in the third set. Federer won five consecutive points and held serve. A few minutes later rain stopped play once again, with Federer leading in the third set 5–4. After an 80-minute break for the weather, Federer battled back to win the next two sets, 7–6, 7–6, saving two championship points in the fourth set tiebreak. That fourth set tiebreak is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever played. With the score at 5–2, Nadal had the opportunity to win the title on his next two serves. However, he double faulted, then netted a backhand, bringing the tiebreak back on serve. Nadal saved a set point and had his first championship point, but failed to return Federer's serve. At 7–7, Nadal hit a seemingly impossible forehand down the line past Federer, setting up another championship point, this time on his serve, but Federer responded with an equally remarkable backhand down the line to extend the match. BBC commentator Andrew Castle said, "The two best passing shots of the tournament, without doubt, have just taken place on the last two points."[25] A second rain delay at 19:53 BST kept the players in the locker room for another 30 minutes. When they returned onto the court, darkness had already started setting in, threatening to delay the match until the next day. During the deciding set, Federer was two points away from claiming his sixth consecutive Wimbledon crown, but Nadal ultimately held serve and eventually broke Federer's serve in the 15th game of the set. Nadal then served out the match in the following game and won the final set 9–7, claiming his first Wimbledon and fifth Grand Slam tournament singles title. The match ended in near darkness at 21:15 BST.[26]

During the match, Federer only converted one of thirteen break points on Nadal's serve.

It was the last Wimbledon final to be significantly affected by rain, as a retractable roof was being installed at Centre Court and was in place by the 2009 Wimbledon Championships.

Statistics
CategorySwitzerland FedererSpain Nadal
1st serve %65%73%
Aces256
Double faults23
Winners8960
Unforced errors5227
Winner-UFE+37+33
Winning % on 1st serve73%69%
Winning % on 2nd serve57%59%
Receiving points won33%33%
Break point conversions1/13 (7%)4/13 (30%)
Net approaches won42/75 (56%)22/31 (71%)
Total points won204209
Fastest serve129 mph (208 km/h)126 mph (203 km/h)
Average 1st serve speed117 mph (188 km/h)112 mph (180 km/h)
Average 2nd serve speed100 mph (160 km/h)93 mph (150 km/h)

[27]

Significance

At 4 hours and 48 minutes, the match at the time was the longest singles final at Wimbledon in terms of time played. It was overtaken by the 2019 men's singles final, another match involving Federer, in which he lost to Novak Djokovic.

Federer had won five consecutive titles at Wimbledon (2003-2007), a record shared with Björn Borg. At Wimbledon 2008, Federer attempted to surpass Borg's record, and become the first male player in the Open Era to win six consecutive Wimbledon titles. Nadal defeated Federer at his most successful major and ended his 41-match winning streak at Wimbledon. By winning the match, Nadal achieved the rare French Open–Wimbledon double, joining (at the time) Rod Laver and Björn Borg as the only men to do so in the Open Era. Federer achieved the same feat the following year, with Nadal winning the double once again in 2010.

Two months later, in August, Nadal finally overtook Federer in the ATP rankings, ending Federer's reign as world no. 1 at a record 237 consecutive weeks. Many tennis analysts wondered whether 2008 was the beginning of Federer's decline in favour of the younger Nadal.[28] Federer, however, regained the top ranking on three occasions, after winning Wimbledon in 2009 and 2012 and the Rotterdam Open in 2018. Federer also impressively made the finals of the next six consecutive Grand Slam tournaments (2008 US Open [won], 2009 Australian Open [finalist], 2009 French Open [won], 2009 Wimbledon [won], 2009 US Open [finalist], and 2010 Australian Open [won]), winning four of these six Grand Slam finals. Nadal only made one Grand Slam final, beating Federer in the 2009 Australian Open final, during this time.

Notes
  1. See:[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

References
  1. Alan Little. 2009 Wimbledon Compendium. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-899039-31-9.
  2. Jenkins, Bruce (7 July 2008). "The Greatest Match Ever". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  3. Alleyne, Richard (7 July 2008). "Wimbledon 2008: John McEnroe hails Rafael Nadal victory as greatest final ever". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  4. Wertheim, Jon (9 July 2008). "Without a doubt, it's the greatest". Tennis Mailbag. Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  5. Tignor, Steve (8 July 2008). "W: Report Cards". Concrete Elbow. Tennis.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  6. Tignor, Steve (3 December 2015). "2008: NADAL BEATS FEDERER IN THE GREATEST MATCH OF ALL TIME". Tennis.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  7. "Federer v Nadal 2008: Wimbledon's greatest final a decade on". The Guardian. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  8. Eccleshare, Charlie (12 July 2019). "Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon 2008: Revisiting the greatest tennis match ever played". The Telegraph.
  9. Haidery, Raza (16 November 2013). "Wimbledon 2008 Final – Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played".
  10. Sarang, Bargale (19 August 2016). "The Greatest Match of all Time – Federer vs Nadal, Wimbledon '08".
  11. Scroll Staff (2 March 2020). "Pause, rewind, play: Wimbledon 2008 final, Federer vs Nadal – greatest tennis match of all time?".
  12. Sonnad, Nikhil (2 March 2020). "A graphical replay of the greatest tennis match ever played, 10 years later". Quartz.
  13. Curtis, Jake (10 July 2013). "Ranking the 10 Most Epic Matches in Tennis History". Bleacher Report.
  14. Fraser, Stuart (12 July 2019). "Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal: At last, a sequel to the greatest match of all time". The Times.
  15. "Federer-Nadal rivalry as good as it gets". International Herald Tribune (Associated Press). 7 July 2008. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  16. Weaver, Paul (7 July 2008). "Move over McEnroe and Borg, this one will run and run in the memory". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  17. Flanagan, Martin (12 July 2008). "Federer v Nadal as good as sport gets". The Age. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  18. Bodo, Peter (30 January 2009). "Rivalry!". Peter Bodo's Tennisworld. Tennis.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  19. MacGregor, Jeff (3 February 2009). "Greatest rivalry of the 21st century?". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  20. Clarey, Christopher (7 March 2008). "Federer battles off-court foe - mononucleosis". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  21. "How Nadal humbled Federer". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  22. Myles, Stephanie (1 February 2010). "Risks pay off for Federer". The Gazette. pp. B3.
  23. Michael, Lanich (28 February 2011). "Roger Federer and the Mono Myth of 2008". Bleacher Report.
  24. Bhavishya, Mittal (3 July 2020). ""I couldn't play without anesthesia" - Rafael Nadal on Wimbledon 2008 final vs Roger Federer".
  25. Jewell, Alan (29 June 2018). "Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer's 2008 final – what made it so special?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  26. "Nadal wins epic Wimbledon final". bbc. 6 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  27. Werthein, L. Jon (June 2009). Strokes of Genius. p. 207. ISBN 978-0547416496.
  28. Frias, Carlos (28 March 2009). "Federer refuses to go quietly". The Palm Beach Post. pp. 1c, 5c.
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