Was that the greatest Wimbledon final ever?

It lasted four hours and 48 minutes and featured some of the most compelling tennis ever seen but was Rafael Nadal's five-set victory over Roger Federer the best final in Wimbledon history?

Did it surpass the five-set epics that John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg produced in 1980 and 1981, two matches that for years were regarded as the most exciting the All England Club had seen? Was it more entertaining than the five-set theatre Nadal and Federer played out last year?

Perhaps you think there has been a final better even than any of those. Whatever your thoughts, let us know them below.

Comments

[rotini]

Mr. Grumpy,
Look back over statistics for matches between Roger and Rafa - it is normal for Rogi to have a higher-than-usual number of unforced errors - that is how they match up against each other. Rogi himself says that the stats are misleading, that many of these errors are in reality forced, owing to the heavy topspin on Rafa's groundstrokes, which often causes ball to bounce to shoulder height or higher. The next time they play, watch how often Rafa hits these balls to Rogi's backhand; they are very difficult to control with the one-handed backhand which Rogi uses. It is the differences in style which make their matches so potentially compelling, in fact. The best player on the day wins, as has always been so.....

[Jamie-Louise]

I couldn't believe how amazing this final was, i was standing up most of the way through biting my nails, just hopinng that Nadal would win. there are no words to describe how fantastic it was. Iv'e watched it about 10 times since and it still sends shivers down my spine!

[Rob]

err to answer the question of how would todays baseliners fare against the serve and volleyers of old, would be, with todays modern technology would mean the baseliners would take the serve and vollyers to the cleaners!!!

[Carol]

I have been watching Wimbledon on the 'beeb' since Rod Laver graced the centre court. I know we oldies are supposed to think everything was better in our young day, but I am sure there has never been a final better than, or as good as, this one. I cannot even imagine there could ever have been a better tennis match.

[T-Bag]

What is with Rafa constantly picking something out of his butt? I don't get it.

[Kalpesh]

Thats WAS the final of finals. Completely enthalling tennis from start to finish. During the 1st rain interruption there was a car accident on my street. A car skidded through my garden fence and into my front porch. Did it miss the end of the rest of the match? You must be joking!

[Karen Huteson]

Am just coming back down to earth after Sunday! Wow, I have been watching tennis for 30 years and I thought last year's final was amazing but I have never seen anything like what took place on Sunday, ever. I am a huge Rafa fan and have watched him for the past 3 years and each year he continues to get better and better. Have been to Wimbey the past 3 years and was lucky enough to have a ticket to watch Rafa play Andy on Wednesday! On Sunday I was just going nuts, I have never screamed and shouted as much! How amazing is Rafa, to be able to stay soooo strong mentally for nearly 5 hours, it's just unbelievable, there are no superlatives to describe him, just AWESOME! How lucky are we to have him in our lifetime. When Roger is no longer, there will be Novak and over the next 5 years or so it will be all Rafa and Novak, how great will that be. I am still getting over their semi-final in Hamburg in May and thought that was incredible. I have Sunday's final on tape and will watch it again and again just to take in all the awesome shots that were played and watch it properly instead of goin nuts! VAMOS RAFA!!!

[Mr. Grumpy, Colchester]

Media hype! Most exciting final in the last five minutes more like. How would some of today's baseline bores have fared against the best of the serve and volley merchants of ten or twenty years ago? Federer simply had a bad day at the office. His high service ace count should have put him in the driving
seat but he gave the match away with his high number of unforced errors.

[Dotty]

I've been watching Wimbledon finals for 45 years and was lucky enough to be in centre court on Sunday, my verdict - it WAS the greatest ever , well done to both men for providing us with such drama and superlative tennis. However the fading light did spoil the final set, no one's fault of course ( except perhaps the idiots who decided several years ago to re-build centre court without a retractable roof or floodlights ) as the show obviously had to go on rather than be a logistical nightmare to rearrange for the next day.
Had play been completed in normal daylight the outcome might have been different . It was clear from where we were sitting that whilst trying to serve in his final service game Federer was distracted by flashing lights in the dimness, including blue & red lights flashing on the scoreboard which we could also see clearly. He appeared to be trying to appeal to the umpire to do something about it. Perhaps he should have refused to play on until the problem was sorted out , as so many other players would no doubt have done. I hope he doesn't forever regret not having done so.

[Georg]

Gordon and those that think that the court has been slowed down should just search at videos of Borg-Mac final and compare it with the speed Federer and Nadal were playing yesterday.
Or is it at Queens too where the grass has also been slow down?
C'mon what an argument: if Nadal wins is because the court is slow.

[Mehul]

First of all i would like to congatulate Nadal for his great victory, he really deserved it but at the same time i felt sorry for roger but he gave his all. The second thing is that we the roger federer fans can not be jealous of nadal's win instead we should apreciate it to be the real winner which won fair and square in front of all world. As fornadal slowing the game i don't think that is cheating because the rules ays you must srve within 20seconds and e always serves just before the 20 seconds whih means he is well iside the time given so that's fair. Mehol

[david]

The greatest tennis match ever seen, one of the best sports performance in history, long live the rivalry, this will be remembered!!!
All you guys critizising Rafa´s game don´t know anything about sport, read what macenroe, sampras, agassi, etc, etc, have said about this game, DUMB ASS!!!!!

[albert]

IT"S DONE! RAFA IS THE BEST!
HIS SUCCESSIVE ACHEIVEMENTS SPEAKS OF HOW HE DESERVES EVERY TITLE HE'S EARNED!

[Dave]

It was one of the best finals but not quite up there with Borg v McEnroe (1980) in my opinion. It was exciting and fantastic sport but I believe both Borg and McEnroe had a better skill level.

[Carmen]

It seems to me that, however humble Nadal has shown himself after winning yesterday, some comments are already predicting (or wishing) Rafa a short career. Come on, it's hard to accept that one's favourite losses, but however important it's only a game after all, .
VAMOS, RAFA.

[Luis Z]

What a great final! Yes, Federer made a lot of unforced errors, but that was due to the superbe tennis Rafa played. He is the only challenger for Roger. No one can puts him in difficulties and makes him to make such number of mistakes. I think we are lucky to see so two great champions at the same time. Vamos Rafa! Come on Roger!

[jose javier]

rafa you are number one now. roger sorry your time is over.

[Nick]

Gordon said: "no-one had slowed the court down for him". Man, maybe that can explain why Federer has won 5 times in a row when others serve faster than him... Actually your are taking merits off Federer greatness. Please, compare the speeds of today's tennis with Borg's one... how can you say that speed is lower? Tennis has evolved and the technical skills and fitness of today's players makes volleying a dangerous thing... How can you suggest that the organisers have slowed the play to help anyone?

Playing on grass has never been easy and if Nadal has won, it does not mean that it is easier now. C'mon. Grass is a extremely difficult surface to play on. If he breaks a 42 year old record (1st Spaniard after Santana, and spaniards are the best on clay), a 28 year old record (Borg's one) and is the first one (I think) to win RG, Queen's and Wimbledon in a row (an two wins over the greatest player ever), it means that Nadal is a super-talented payer with extraordinary skills (physical and mental) and an unbelievable capacity to adpat and play intelligently. Not because the balls are "softner", please...

To answer the question of the blog, I do not know if it was the best final as we cannot compare players and styles (probably it does not matter) but it was one magical moment in the sports history. One that we could not forget and use to bore our grandchildern remembering it...

[hvc]

I am spanish and I wanted Nadal to win this outstanding and wonderful match, probably the best I have seen in my life.Borg-McEnroe and Sampras-Agassi finals were wondderful and unforgettable too.But I have to say both players deserved to win this trophy.I´m sorry for Federer. I don´t like to see such a great champion loses a great match.Federer & Nadal thank you for everything you did and congratulations.

[Georg]

Many of you mention that there was an "uncharacteristic level of unforced errors from Federer. Without them he would've won"... … … Well, any knowledgeable tennis fan could notice that Federer deliberately changes his game when he plays Nadal, (he takes extra risks to attack Nadal’s game). One example: against Nadal he tries to play his backhand closer to the bounce/court. Taking risks means more unforced errors, but it also has the likely reward of more winning shots (just check the statistic of the match to verify who had by far more wining shots and more unforced errors).

The advantage for Nadal is that he does not have to change that much his game. He just tries his game but much harder, as he is against another superb player.

I think that both were winners. They should’ve cut the trophy in two pieces :)
Superb performance

[Farsh Abdulla]

Nadal is boring. Thank god others think so too. His play is mechanistic and his game is built around defence and counter-attacking. It is sad for tennis that the guy is winning slams outside France, and a tragedy that he is denying the best player in history the chance to confirm his status in the history books.

[Roger]

I've been watching Wimbledon finals since the days of Laver, Newcombe and Santana and the final three sets had me on the edge of my seat as I've never been before. I thought, there's no way Federer is going out like this and he staged what to my mind is one of the greatest fight-backs ever seen, and against an opponent who never, ever dropped his standard of play. Yes, it was indeed one of the greatest finals I've ever seen and I'll never forget it.

[Lori in Texas]

That was one of the GREATEST final I have ever seen. I wish I would have recorded it so I could watch again and again.

[Ramesh]

I am big RF fan for the past 5 yrs who plays tennis not like armchair pundits. I just cannot understand the comments from many of the RF fans attributing the win for RN to RF playing sub-par. Give us all a break! The match was the best ever in terms of pure tennis technique, perseverance, pressure, big stage etc.
RF played the best he could. RN just had a better strategy (as usual peppering RF backhand with heavy top spin and changed tactic of body serving the second-serve) and implemented it to perfection. He just out thought RF. Please please do not compare these two players and this match to Goran and Rafter. Come on!

[NickB]

I remember reading a piece about Federer a couple of years ago when it was first realised he was on cusp of greatness. It included comments such as ‘I would love to play like him for one day just to see what it felt like to be that good’ that was from Mats Wilander a man with no less than 7 grand slam titles, an unbelievable quote which really hits home how highly those in the tennis fraternity really rate the lad from Basle. Within this article was a contained a list of the soon to be great man’s finest matches.

The real problem was that apart from the one Safin semi-final at the Australian Open all the matches were short and extremely one sided. Basically when Federer plays well no one can live with him. The Safin match was a classic going to 5 sets and Safin played the best he possibly could and will never reach those heights again. So we come to yesterdays finale another destined to go into the annals as a great Federer match, if not the greatest, but once again the great man was beaten. Perhaps a sad side effect of his humungous talent and achievements is that the greatest matches he plays in will be the ones he loses. Because only when an opponent not only lives with him but is able to eclipse him can a truly great competitive match be achieved. Let’[s hope that the balance is restored as Rafa’;s star rises and Roge gets his revenege.