Even though I wasn't able to catch the entire match, what I saw of the Nadal-Federer Wimbledon final was breathtaking, not to mention nerve-wracking, tennis.
The days when I cared enough about a tennis player to drag myself out of bed for Breakfast at Wimbledon are long past, but the first rain delay helped me out in that regard. I started watching in the third set with Nadal trailing 4-5, caught the entire fourth set, and then had to switch off early in the fifth set for a family outing. Though Federer still lacks much personality on the court, the play was riveting, and the fourth set tiebreaker was probably Federer at his best. As they say in sports, you have to beat the champion, and even though Nadal appeared to have the better game, he also appeared to be having the most trouble dealing with the intensity of the moment.
Truth be told, when we left with the match tied in the fifth set, I absolutely expected to come home and read about a sixth consecutive Federer victory. So hat's off to Nadal, who is now poised to join Federer and others as one of the all-time greats.
Was this the greatest final? I dunno - my heart will always be with Borg-McEnroe 1980 (which I did drag myself out of bed for). But no question, this was a great final.
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