Monday, July 07, 2008

Rafael Nadal Wins Wimbledon 2008

Rafael Nadal, the 22 year-old world no. 2 wins over the 5-time and current world no.1 Roger Federer in the finals of the 2008 Wimbledon Tennis. Rafa pushed Federer to the extremes from the start and lead 2-0. He broke the champion’s winning streak record and attempt to make it six in a row at the prestigious grass venue.

The game was suspended at 5-5 in the third set. I was glued in my set at aunt’s house at almost midnight. My wife was all smiles as she was cheering for Rafa. Oh, not that she’s a fan. She just wanted to take side on every opponent of my bet. Last night, I believed she got converted.

I was kind of frustrated at the many mistakes of Roger. I can also see frustration in his reactions. So many easy net shots went awry. He failed to convert many of the break points. Though it was obvious that Rafa always appeared stunned when Roger serves, the later was not able to break his opponent’s serves.

We went home at around midnight but I was not yet finished. I opened my laptop and immediately visited Wimbledon’s website. The game resumed many minutes after. I was also browsing other sites while waiting for scores updates. It was tied 6-all at the fourth set when I closed my laptop. I was too sleepy then and it seems that the game was halted for the second time. I slept hoping that Roger will survive another set.

As I was about to dress up for work this morning, my wife asked me about the results of the Wimbledon Finals. I forced myself to open my laptop. I was excited too expecting Roger to win. But I was disappointed to know that Wimbledon has a new champion.

The game was the longest in Wimbledon's history at 4 hours and 48 minutes. It also kind of repeat Bjorn Borg's stop of his 5-year winning streak. Final results: Nadal wins 6-4; 6-4; 6-7; 6-7; 9-7.

1 comment:

zherwin said...

it was also one of the most thrilling, next only to borg's and john macenroe's 80's match.

now it further intensified the rivalry that was not present in the last two years in men's tennis.