Federer cements his place at the top
Roger Federer won his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title, overcoming a fierce challenge from his nemisis, Rafael Nadal. Many thought Nadal wouldn’t make it to the final of Wimbledon, but he proved to all that he is a legitimate power in tennis, and not just on clay.
The first set of the final was very similar to that of the French Open final, where Federer came out and blitzed Nadal off the court 6-1. In yesterday’s final, Federer came out and took the first set 6-0. This time, however, Federer held his nerve in the second set. Despite having his serve broken, he was able to break back when Nadal was serving for the set and force a tiebreak, which Federer won 7-5. Both players held serve in the third set forcing another tiebreak, which Nadal won 7-2, forcing a fourth set. Federer came out on fire in the fourth set, breaking Nadal twice to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Unthinkably, Federer got nervous when serving for the match and was broken by Nadal, giving him a sniff of a comeback. Nadal held his serve, making it 5-3 and leaving Federer serving for the match once again. This time he made no mistake and defeated Nadal only for the second time in eight meetings.
This was probably the most important victory in Federer’s career. A loss to Nadal at Wimbledon would definitely have damaged Federer mentally. Losing on clay to Nadal is one thing, but if Federer were to have lost at Wimbledon, it would be hard for him to recover from such a blow. It is great to see a player that is not defeated before even walking out on the court against Federer. The two previous number one players in the world, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick, will probably never seriously challenge Roger Federer again, as they don’t believe they are capable of beating him. Lleyton Hewitt even said that he thought Roger was going to win the title. A Nadal victory over Federer at Wimbledon may have shown the other players that he is beatable. As it stands though, Federer has clearly displayed that he is one of the greatest players of all-time. He is now over halfway towards reaching Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slam titles. I believe that once he is finished with his career, Roger Federer will own the record and will be known as the greatest player to have ever picked up a tennis racquet.
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