Nadal ends Roger's reign at Wimbledon

Tennis Betting Lines

07/06/2008 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Nadal has ended the five-year reign of Roger Federer at Wimbledon, capturing his first men's singles title at the All England Club with a thrilling 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 triumph.

Nadal, who lost to Federer in each of the previous two Wimbledon title matches, finally won a Grand Slam crown not played on clay. He is the reigning four-time champion of the French Open, having beaten Federer in each of the last three finals at Roland Garros.

The super Spaniard dominated Federer in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 triumph last month in the French Open final, and on Sunday survived an epic comeback to earn his fifth Grand Slam title and deny Federer his 13th. Nadal also became the first Spaniard to win on the famed lawns of the London slam since Manuel Santana in 1966.

Federer hadn't lost at Wimbledon since a 2002 first-round setback to Croatia's Mario Ancic. The Swiss superstar also had a streak of 65 straight wins on grass courts stopped and his 40-match win streak at Wimbledon also came to a crashing halt -- one short of Bjorn Borg's record of 41, set from 1976-81.

"Rafa is a deserving champion," said Federer on court after the match. "He just played fantastic today."

Nadal, meanwhile, became the first man since Borg in 1980 to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.

"He's still the number one," Nadal said about Federer on court after the match. "He's still the best. He's the five-time champion and right now I have one."

Sunday's marathon took four hours and 48 minutes of court time to complete and ended at 9:15 p.m. local time as rain delayed the start of play and twice halted the action -- once in the third set and again in the fifth.

The fifth set was on serve until the 15th game -- there are no tiebreakers in the deciding set at Wimbledon -- and Nadal finally broke on his fourth chance in the game.

Federer saved the first with an ace and Nadal hit a backhand long on the second. After Federer drilled a forehand long, he saved another break with a service winner. A forehand into the net set up another break point for Nadal and Federer hit another forehand long to give the Spaniard the break for 8-7.

Nadal used a pair of volleys to open a 30-15 lead in the next game, but he couldn't do it again as Federer drilled a shot that Nadal returned long. Federer then hit a backhand wide to set up a third championship point for Nadal, who couldn't recover to get Federer's backhand return of service.

However, a service winner set up another championship point for Nadal and Federer drilled a forehand into the net to finally end it, sending Nadal to the ground in ecstasy.

"It's impossible to explain what I felt at that moment," Nadal stated.

Nadal appeared to be in control after winning the first two sets, but the lengthy rain delay in the third appeared to help Federer.

Federer was ahead 5-4 when the rain came and after the resumption of play, the set went to a tiebreaker.

Nadal opened a 2-1 lead in the tiebreak, but Federer surged ahead by winning the next four points -- the last with a forehand winner for a 5-2 edge. It was 6-3 before Nadal won the next two points on his serve, but Federer closed out the set with an ace.

Neither player managed a break-point chance in the fourth set and an epic tiebreaker ensued.

Nadal opened a 4-2 margin before the first changeover, but Federer battled back and squared it at 5-5 with a forehand winner and produced a service winner on the next point for his first set point.

The Swiss superstar tried for a winner down the line, but missed wide and Nadal gained his first championship point when Federer hit a forehand long. Federer, though, came back with a service winner before a brilliant passing shot gave the Spaniard his second championship point.

Federer, though, came back with a backhand pass to even the tiebreak at 8-8, then drilled a forehand winner and watched Nadal's last shot of the set sail long.

"It's very tough to play him, especially here," Nadal remarked. "He always fights unbelievable."

In the first two sets, Federer had plenty of chances, but could not take advantage. In all, he converted just 1-of-13 break-point opportunities, while Nadal was 4-of-13.

"I wasn't happy with the way I was playing break points early on," said Federer. "Rafa keeps you thinking and that's what the best players do to you."

Nadal gained a quick break of serve in the third game when Federer managed to put only one first serve into play. Federer, though, nearly broke right back. After falling behind 0-40, he rallied for a break point and hit a forehand long. Nadal eventually held serve to validate the break.

Each player held serve the rest of the way, although Nadal had trouble closing it out.

Federer had a couple of break chances in the 10th game, but failed to convert. After a perfect volley set up the first, he missed a backhand volley long. A backhand into the net on a second serve cost him another chance before Nadal finally held to win the set.

A sensational passing shot in the second game of the second set finally gave Federer a break of serve on the way to a 4-1 lead, but Nadal reeled off the next five games.

The momentum change came in the seventh game when Federer hit a forehand wide to set up a break point for Nadal, who converted when Federer rushed to the net and couldn't handle a Nadal passing shot.

Federer then had a chance to break right back in the next game, but sent a return of serve into the net and Nadal held to square the set at 4-4. Nadal then won the first three points of the ninth game and soon after hit a forehand winner to break serve again for 5-4.

Nadal blew a set point in the 10th game and a wind-forced error set up a break point for Federer, who netted a backhand. Nadal then gained another set point and Federer drilled another backhand into the net to give the Spaniard the commanding advantage.

Sunday's victory increased Nadal's winning streak to 24 matches. After dismantling Federer at Roland Garros, he also captured his first grass court title with a victory at the Queen's Club in preparation for this fortnight.

Nadal improved to 29-8 in his career finals overall, including 6-2 this year. His six titles this year lead the ATP circuit.

This marked the 18th meeting between the two rivals. Nadal now holds a 12-6 advantage, including 4-0 this year. He is also 10-4 against Federer when the two meet for a title.

Sunday's triumph was worth just $1.5 million for Nadal.