Johnny Wattersonon why the five-time champion now has a genuine rival in Rafael Nadal
Sunday's men's singles final asked us all to think back and to look forward. Back because the astounding quality on Centre Court sent minds searching for a contest that sparkled, one that at times threatened to transcend the occasion itself. It was also a match that could have fallen either way and one in which the quality of the game of the young pretender, Rafael Nadal, was as forceful and immaculately presented as that of the champion, Roger Federer.
The most recent benchmark for a standout final was Goran Ivanisevic's hair-raising final in 2001 against Australian Pat Rafter. In the draw as a wild-card entry and with a severely injured arm, the Croatian player talked as good as he played for two weeks. Imaginations were captured. But connoisseurs of the game look for more than blood on the grass and crazy eyes from the winner. The years would also need to roll back beyond the dominance of Pete Sampras, whose era of command on grass may have hummed with efficiency, but more coldly, with less all-round talent, less imaginative and less style than Federer's.
The American's benchmark of 14 Grand Slam titles is what Federer openly seeks and nobody believes he will not achieve it. Sampras also never had a foil (Americans would argue Andre Agassi was), a rival who could bring his level of play to new heights and who could come on to him in the way the Spaniard has moved to Federer's shoulder.
The vintage years of Borg and McEnroe is where we have to go to find comparison. Different tennis, different equipment and different body types. They are incomparable but nonetheless equal. How Nadal's armour- plated game faced up to the precision of Federer on Sunday can easily sit along side the American and Swede. When the two players met at the net after match point, Federer embraced Nadal.
"You deserve it as much as me," said the champion. Federer knew what he had just been in. He knew he had not broken Nadal's serve until the fifth set and he knew saving two late games in that same fifth set at 15-40 down was the tennis equivalent of base jumping. His late-opening parachute that time was the serve.
Wimbledon has also shown us what great players can achieve by simply being great. Federer, like Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and latterly the Williams sisters, has demanded that others follow. Nadal has been the only one who has been able to do that.
The victory was the first five-set match of Federer's five-year reign at Wimbledon and the first in any of his appearances in Grand Slam finals, where he has won 11 and lost two, in the past two French Open finals to Nadal, who is the thus the only man who has beaten him in a major final.
As Federer basked in another Wimbledon victory, Nadal sat nearby pulling a brave smile. He knew he had hit the ball with such vicious pace and incredible precision that he rewrote the tactics in tennis. Federer had him pinned 10 feet behind the baseline and was still being passed approaching the net. Nadal has binned the conventional wisdom. But his 50 winners and 71 per cent first serve percentages were still not quite enough on the day.
"Maybe comparing me with Roger right now is not possible yet because he has 11 Grand Slams, me three. But, well, I am young," said Nadal. "Today was tough for me, but at the same time, well, is good to watch me playing one final like this against the best of the world on grass, playing at a similar level."
Federer is not one to disagree. As the US Open approaches, the balance has not changed but it no longer tips so heavily with the Swiss player. Nadal almost beat him. On grass. "He's playing phenomenal tennis. He's definitely improved yet again, I think," said Federer. "He . . . had more of a game plan this year than he had last year. I think last year he came out, nothing to lose, kind of hit hard but didn't know why. This year . . . he plays maybe a bit more aggressive, knows the game of grass much better. That's why I think he's not only just a good clay courter, he's a good all-around player.
"That's what's going to happen anyway in the future, that everybody will be able to play on all different surfaces because it's slowing down so much. It was almost impossible to get to the net from the baseline because you neutralise the opponent so well. Because he came so close today that, you know, I think he deserves a title here."
Federer is 25-years old, Nadal 21. There is still as much ahead as we have already seen.
Men's singles final: The statistics
Federer Nadal
First Serve % 111 of 156 = 71 % 118 of 167 = 71 %
Aces 24 1
Double Faults 3 2
Unforced Errors 34 24
Winning % on 1st Serve 79 of 111 = 71 % 81 of 118 = 69 %
Winning % on 2nd Serve 28 of 45 = 62 % 28 of 49 = 57 %
Winners (Including Service) 65 50
Receiving Points Won 58 of 167 = 35 % 49 of 156 = 31 %
Break Point Conversions 3 of 8 = 38 % 4 of 11 = 36 %
Net Approaches 30 of 51 = 59 % 18 of 26 = 69 %
Total Points Won 165 158
Fastest Serve 130mph 131mph
Average 1st Serve Speed 120 mph 111mph
Average 2nd Serve Speed 99mph 92mph
