Nadal wins a classic, scintillating final

THEY WILL talk about this one for years. It had swings. It had rain delays. It had bad light and in the end it had a new champion, a deserving one. The twisted story was one of the young Spaniard, who went two sets up, handed them back, missed two championship points and still held it together under the searing scrutiny of perhaps the best tennis player that ever lived.

"It is impossible to explain how I felt in that moment," said Nadal of his falling to the grass after Federer's forehand had found the net at match point for the 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 victory.

"Just very, very happy to win this title. It is a dream to play in this court. I never imagined something like this. So very happy." Humble and gracious, as always, Nadal also paid respect to his opponent.

"I am (playing) at the same time as the best player in history, Roger Federer," said the 22-year-old.

To the relief of the crowd the start of the match was rain delayed for just a short while and when Federer stepped up to serve, it was so quiet you could almost hear the thump of sun glasses falling on the bridges of noses of those lucky enough to be sitting on the bright side of centre court.

To Federer's dismay the famous serve did not start hot and although he held for the first game, Nadal pounced on a weak service game in the third to break for 2-1. It was not Federer's lack of opportunities that let the set escape him but, most unusually, his inability to play the big points. Nadal was both Herculean in his efforts and miserly with unforced errors. In the 10th game he gave Federer a look on his serve to break back but three deuces later and a Federer backhand slice into the net it was the Spaniard's set for 6-4.

Federer was always looking for the quickest way to end the points and to avoid long baseline rallies but Nadal, unlike all others, not only had a better win loss record over him but had almost humiliated the champion at Roland Garros in the French Open final.

Again Nadal took the Federer serve early in the second set with an arcing forehand, which left the Swiss flapping at air as he made his approach. The swirling wind kicking up dust from the back of the threadbare court was momentarily reminiscent of the Spaniard's favourite court in Paris but again break points were being offered to and declined by the number one.

A simple put away volley was missed in the eighth game for a service break but when it astonishingly went long Federer yelled at the woman who had screamed 'come on' as he struck. Again Nadal was serving for the set. Again Federer earned a break point. Again Nadal's persistence triumphed.

But Federer was not handing over his title in straight sets and brought up his tempo and down his error count. The quality of play under pressure was extreme and when rain came to wash out the match for 75 minutes, it was the magisterial Federer who came back renewed.

His first stamp on the match came from a tiebreak. Neither players had lost a tiebreak in the championship and when Federer earned three set points and aced Nadal for the second set the renaissance began.

The fourth set also hinged on a tiebreak as both players elevated their play with a regular routine of exquisite passing shots that drew giddy squeals form the crowd. What had looked like a straight set win for the pretender was turning into a classic evening duel on the most famous court in the world.

The longest Wimbledon final in the open era was a Borg v Jimmy Connors dogfight of four hours 16 minutes in 1982, with last night's marathon lasting four hours 48 minutes.

Again the serving was pivotal to the swings of fortune. But Federer was beginning to return Nadal's delivery better than the Spaniard was dealing with his, with Federer running at 75 per cent of points won on first serve and Nadal at 69 per cent. The percentages were also showing Federer was taking the greater risks and getting rewarded and that was demonstrated in the fourth set tiebreak.

There Nadal took what seemed like a match-winning lead. Jumping on the top seed, he raced to a 2-5 advantage and within a flurry of a few points had two serves and two championship points. Once again Federer showed the poise and mental toughness that has made him such a menacing figure on the court and he moved to 5-5 before winning the tiebreak and set 10-8. Parity.

And the rains came again at 7.55 forcing the players to cover for almost half an hour. On return the two were met with standing applause and in the twilight went about illustrating why both are so highly regarded. With serve it finally moved to 7-7.

Federer blinked first. Nadal broke his serve and took the championship on his fourth match point.