Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, tennis’s glittering top of the bill double act, clash in a third successive Wimbledon final on Sunday to determine who the world’s best player is.
A victory for Roger Federer will make him the first man since the 19th century to take six Wimbledon titles in a row, while a win for Rafael Nadal will put him alongside Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg as the only players to have won the French and Wimbledon back to back
LONDON: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, tennis’s glittering top of the bill double act, clash in a third successive Wimbledon final on Sunday to determine who the world’s best player is.
The final will be the sixth time the elegant Swiss and the muscular Spaniard have met in a Grand Slam final, bettering the five played by Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl, and then Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the 1980s and 1990s. Federer has won two on the grass of the All-England Club in 2006 and 2007; Nadal has claimed three on his beloved Roland Garros clay in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Never have the stakes been higher. A victory for Federer will make him the first man since the 19th century to win six Wimbledons in a row. A win for Nadal, on the other hand, will take him alongside Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg as the only man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season.
He would also become the first Spanish men’s champion since Manuel Santana in 1966. It’s hardly surprising that the 26-year-old Federer and Nadal, just 22, are keen to stress that the pressure is on the other.
“For me, Roger is the best in history,” said Nadal who stormed to a fourth successive French Open title a month ago destroying Federer in a brutally one-sided final where the world No.1 won just four games.
That Paris annihilation, coupled with Nadal taking Federer to an epic five-set final here in 2007, has led many to suggest that the era of the Swiss superstar’s dominance is at an end.
He may have been world No.1 for 231 weeks, and can lay claim to 12 Grand Slam titles compared to Nadal’s four, but many argue that Nadal, especially with a first grasscourt title from Queen’s tucked under his belt, is really the world’s pre-eminent tennis talent. “Playing Rafa is the test I was hoping for. He's beaten me on clay, I have won on grass. Beating your main rival is always a real thrill," said Federer. The Swiss No.1 is unbeaten on grass in 65 games.
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