and Rafael Nadal have a storied rivalry that many consider to be the greatest in tennis history. 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 five years in a row and was now trying to become champion for a sixth consecutive year. Nadal, on the other hand, had just won the French Open for the fourth time in a row and was trying to achieve the rare French Open-Wimbledon double. 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 and be the best on both surfaces within the span of 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 Roland-Garros/Wimbledon double in 2009, and Nadal achieved the feat for the second time in 2010.
Match details
Although the players were due on court at 14:00 BST, rain delayed the start of the match by about 35 minutes. The umpire was. Once the match had commenced, Nadal won the first two sets 6–4, 6–4, but the rain stopped play once again as Federer led 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. The tiebreak is often 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 hit a double fault followed by a netted backhand bringing the tiebreak back on serve. At 7–7, Nadal hit a forehand down the line past Federer setting up a championship point on his serve to which Federer responded with a similarly perfect backhand on the line to keep him in 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." 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 and threatened 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 would then serve out the match in the following game, and in the process, won the final set 9-7. During the match, Federer only converted one of thirteen break points on Nadal's serve.
At 4 hours and 48 minutes, the match at the time was the longest single's 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, 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 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, on which Federer had reigned as world no. 1 for a record 237 consecutive weeks. Many tennis analysts wondered whether 2008 was the beginning of Federer's decline in favour of the younger Nadal. Federer regained the top ranking on three occasions, after winning the Wimbledon title in 2009 and 2012, and after winning the Australian Open in 2018. Federer contracted mononucleosis around December 2007 and received medical clearance to train normally and compete the 20th of February 2008, five days before the 2008 Dubai Tennis Championships started. Some analysts wondered whether his physical recovery from mononucleosis was not complete by the time of Wimbledon. Others disagree and consider that Federer's vestiges of fatigue were no longer visible during the 2008 clay season. On the other hand, in an interview for Movistar Nadal stated that he played the Wimbledon 2008 final with anesthesia, as he had an asleep foot. Due to the rain delays, the match ended in near darkness at 21:15 BST. It was to be 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.
Federer
Nadal