Best Final Ever

Saint Roger the Saviour of Tennis, elegant even when going down in defeat

I've just watched the best (or maybe second best) Wimbledon men's final I've ever seen and I can't get over it and go to sleep yet.

The earliest Wimbledon final I can remember was Arthur Ashe vs Jimmy Conners in 1975, and I *think* I've seen them all since then, including the allegedly "best tennis match of all time" which was Borg vs McEnroe in 1980. The match became famous for it's 4th set tie-break.

Today's match, (Federer vs Nadal for those of you who live on the planet Tharg) also featured a 4th set tie break, whereby each player consecutively swopped Championship point (Nadal) or set point (Federer).

As a fan of Roger Federer, I'm gutted my man lost, but proud that he lost in such a manner - an incredible display of iron will and grace under pressure. The scoreline was:

6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7

Which is about as good as losing gets...

Lets hope Federer gets over this result, which he's already called the most painful of his career, and keeps playing the kind of sublime tennis which he's still capable of producing. Conditions were tough for him today - gusty wind works against players with exquisite feel and touch. Had we had a nice still day the result might (just might) have been different.

As we've come to expect, both Roger and Raffa conducted themselves brilliantly before, during, and after the match even though it was sad to see Roger so visibly upset.

I doubt I'll remember anything of 2008 in a few years time except the incredible 4+ hours of highest quality tennis that they played this afternoon.

Oh and Raffa is playing so well at the moment that next year he may just be the first man to achieve the grandslam since Rod Laver...

We're lucky to live through this era of amazing men's tennis.