Wimbledon

[Nathaniel]

Nadal wins epic Wimbledon final
By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Wimbledon



Nadal won his fifth Grand Slam title and first away from Roland Garros

Rafael Nadal held off an incredible fightback from Roger Federer to win his first Wimbledon title and end the Swiss star's reign at the All England Club.

The Spaniard missed two championship points in the fourth set but recovered to win a dramatic rain-interrupted match 6-4 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7.

The final shot was struck in near darkness on Centre Court at 2115 BST.

Nadal, 22, is the the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon back to back.

Federer, 26, had been trying to become only the second man to win six consecutive Wimbledon titles, and so surpass Borg to match Willie Renshaw, who played in the 1880s.

The defeat brought to an end his unbeaten run of 65 matches on grass, and arguably his reign as the undisputed king of tennis.

On sealing victory, a tearful Nadal climbed through the stands to celebrate with his family and supporters before heading to the royal box to speak to members of the Spanish royal family.

Federer, meanwhile, suffered the unpleasant experience of watching, dejected, from his chair as he came to terms with finishing runner-up at Wimbledon for the first time.

[Sharp-kun]

That was one of the best matches I've ever seen.

[Mayabird]

Is this the match that took nearly forever because the rain kept stopping it? I heard someone saying that they were still playing at 9 PM, Greenwich time.

[The Original Nex]

Indeed it was. Amazing tennis match! Nadal continuously coming to the brink of victory only to have Federer three times come back. Really an historic match. My father commented that it reminded him of the old John McEnroe/Bjon Bork matches.