The Best Wimbledon Ever

(T. Lovelock)

Notwithstanding the fashion displayed above, Wimbledon 2008 was the finest show of tennis I’ve ever seen. The women’s final was outstanding, but proved to be just an appetizer for the epic final in the gentlemen’s division. The five set encounter between the Swiss #1 and Spanish #2 was – and will likely be – the finest ever played on Centre Court, perhaps even in grand slam history.

On Saturday, Venus Ebony Starr and sister Serena squared off in their third Wimbledon final. The match began with Serena emphatically asserting her presence, easily winning the first two games. The last two finals contested between the siblings were won by Serena, and it looked as though Venus might been headed for another loss to the eight-time major winner. But at 0-2, Venus got her head into the match and showed off why she is the best grass court player of this generation.

Serena played magnificently, but Venus – impeccable.

The match ultimately boiled down to break point conversions: Serena went just 2 for 13. The younger Williams may have been expecting lesser offerings on her sister’s second serve, but Venus averaged 92 mph and won a remarkable 56% points on the second ball. While Serena is a masterful returner, Venus’ serve held up under the pressure.

After 1 hour and 51 minutes, Venus held aloft the Wimbledon rosewater plate for the fifth time. She also entered the number five position in all-time singles titles behind Billie Jean King and Suzanne Lenglen (6 titles), Steffi Graf (7 titles), Helen Wills Moody (8 titles), and Martina Navratilova (9 titles).

On Sunday, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal faced each over for a record sixth time in grand slam finals. They had previously been tied with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi who faced each other five times over the course of their amazing careers. Federer was poised to eclipse Bjorn Borg as the champion with the most consecutive Wimbledon crowns. He also was trying to turn around a year that had produced only two titles at relatively minor tournaments and, by his standards, was his worst since 2002.

For his part, Nadal was attempting to become the first player since Borg in 1980 to capture back to back French and Wimbledon championships, arguably the toughest feat in all of tennis.

The match was a virtuoso display of power, precision, athleticism, and artistry. Federer blasted winning shots from his serve and forehand wing; Nadal’s backhand was unbelievably consistent, his court coverage was unparalled. All credit to Nadal, Roger was a bit unlucky to find himself down two sets to love for the first time in her career in the finals of Wimbledon.

Unlike his whimpering finish in Paris, Roger stepped up his game. He sharply reduced his unforced errors, and produced an impressive offensive strategy of baseline aggression and penetrating netplay. Even so, Federer still could not find a way to break Nadal’s serve. The third and fourth sets went the distance and are decided in tiebreakers. The third set breaker was exciting, though handily won by the Swiss. The fourth set tiebreaker will go down in history. It was simply the most dramatic and courageous display of tennis I’ve ever seen.

Federer faced two championship points against him, but managed to emerge victorious with pinpoint accurate groundstroke winners. Nadal did not waver in his unrelenting attack. It was Roger who raised his shotmaking to impossible heights. Federer was again on the verge of making history by attempting to become the first man since Henri Cochet in 1927 to come back from two sets to love to win Wimbledon.

The two would battle through a 16 game final set. After nearly five hours of play, Rafa won his first Wimbledon on a final forehand error by the Swiss Mister. The match was pure entertainment, but toss in a heaping of history, the highest level of tennis ever produced between two players over five incredibly competitive sets, and finally a whole lotta emotion, you come up with the best match possibly ever.

Rafa was the consummate sportsman in stating in his acceptance speech that Roger was still the game’s best player. Roger was similarly cordial, but his utter despair was palpable. He should take heart in knowing that even in defeat, he showed off more heart and grit than most commentators ever imagined was possible for him.

It’s a testament to the nature of the game of tennis that had Federer won two more points while at 5-4, 30-all in the fifth set, the sports world would be crowning him the best ever. Instead, we remark on the changing of the guard or otherwise metaphorize ad nauseum on Federer’s defeat.

It was truly an amazing match. Rafa, I predicted you’d win this. Roger, my heart goes out to you. I hope that you will come back and show us why you deserve to be called the Greatest of All Time.

(C. Brunskill)