06 July 2008

Wimbledon 2008

Holy bovine! Rafael Nadal is the 2008 Wimbledon gentlemen singles champion! Nadal defeated world number one, 5 time consecutive Wimbledon champion, Roger Federer in an epic 5 set match (6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7).

I think the match ran around 4 hours, 17 minutes, with two rain delays mixed in. Both players played amazing tennis. I really thought that if the match went to 5 sets, that Federer would win. I'm glad I was wrong.

According to the commentators, Nadal is the first Spanish player to win Wimbledon in 40 years, and the first to win both the French and Wimbledon in the same year since Bjorn Borg in 1980.

Part of the reason why Wimbledon is my favorite tournament to watch is the behaviour of the fans. Complete silence during the serve and during the points. Nirvana. In the other majors I get really annoyed when folks scream in the middle of a player's toss. Scream your support after the point, as the fans at Wimbledon did, but not during.

Random thoughts:
  • Federer, as always whenever I see him, is extremely gracious in what must be a heart breaking loss, missing out on a record-making 6 consecutive Wimbledon titles, and still 2 majors away from tieing Pete Sampras' record of 14 single major titles. In Federer's own words, from Federer's perspective he was playing the "worst player on the best surface". :o)
  • Nadal, as always when I see him, was very humble, mentioning several times that Federer is the greatest player in history. I also liked how after crushing Federer at the French Open Nadal was subdued in his reaction to winning match point.
  • I like Federer, and I think he'll eventually beat Sampras' record, but I'm also a little glad that that moment is delayed a little longer.

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