Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s 2008 final – what made it so special?

JO: “All bets were off at that point. The momentum was with Federer because he had won the fourth set. The history was with Federer because he was a five-time champion, but there was still unknown what Nadal had to offer in the future. ” the decision maker. He had played so well up to that point. Only a fool would have written him off. In the first matches, it was clear that Nadal was going nowhere, even though Federer served first.

At 7.53 pm, with the decider at 2-2, deuce, it started to rain again. The players left and the covers came over. It looked like they would come back on Monday to finish it off, but it would prove to be a short break. Half an hour later they continued with, realistically, at most an hour of playable light left. The quality and intensity would never diminish as the two men threw everything they had at each other. It was heartbreaking stuff.

JM: “I was lucky that people talked about my match with Bjorn in 1980 as one of the great matches. But I watched the 2008 final and sat back and said to myself, ‘This is the best match I ever had at Wimbledon seen.’ .’

“Towards the end I said virtually nothing in the commentary box. I thought what I saw was so great and the players rose to the occasion. Anyone watching could see that it was going to be a match that people would talk about for generations to come For me, that’s an easy performance when you watch a match like that. When it’s that good, you sit back and put your arms back.

The match entered the fifth hour. At 4-4, Federer earned a break point, but Nadal saved it with a big forehand and follow-up hit. “Roger, Roger” and “Rafa, Rafa” sounded at the same time. At 5-5, Nadal reached 15-40 on Federer’s serve, but the Swiss repelled him. The light faded quickly. As the clock ticked past 9pm, Nadal won a thrilling point to hold on for 7-7. Federer somehow landed a ferocious Nadal slash on the baseline, but the Spaniard put away a forehand and, with adrenaline pumping through his body, celebrated with a huge fist pump. Should they stop there?

DD: I was broadcast around 9:10pm for the 1969 Charlie Pasarell-Pancho Gonzales match (the second longest singles match in Wimbledon history) and you could barely see the white balls. The supervisor couldn’t believe they were still playing. It was the same day. I went downstairs around 9pm and thought ‘they need to call this quickly’.

JO: “I always think that television gives the wrong impression because of the filters. You had to be there to realize how dark it was in those last games. When it became 7-7, it was very clear that there were still two games to play. They wanted it would have been unfair to recall them with one person serving for the match or serving to stay in the match.”

P.M: “It was clearly getting dark and the Hawk-Eye went off because of the darkness. None of the players said this before the match was over. I think the players were so into it that they didn’t even notice. We agreed with the referee, Andrew Jarrett, that we should stop the game at 8-8.”

Federer finally faltered on serve at 7-7. Although he saved three break points in that match, he could not stave off a fourth as a forehand floated long and Nadal had the decisive break. After the change of ends, Nadal came out to serve for the championship in what would be the final match of the day, no matter what happened. He put up a third championship point, but Federer raged against the dying light and fired a backhand return that Nadal could barely get a racket on. It was proof of his final salvo: two points later he sent a forehand into the net and Nadal fell to the grass in celebration. Finally, after four hours and 48 minutes of riveting theater, Wimbledon had a new champion.