On a court fading into dusk, Rafael Nadal finally conquered Wimbledon. He beat Roger Federer 9-7 in the fifth set of the 2008 final, claiming his first title at the All England Club after 4 hours and 48 minutes of play.
The match started late, delayed by rain. Nadal took the first two sets 6-4, 6-4, recovering from a 1-4 deficit in the second by winning five consecutive games. He held triple break point in the third set, but Federer held firm.
Two championship points saved as light fades
A second rain interruption arrived with Federer leading 5-4 in the third. After an 80-minute break, Federer returned to force two tiebreaks. In the fourth, Nadal stood two points from victory at 5-2, then double-faulted.
At 7-7 in that tiebreak, Nadal struck a forehand down the line to earn a championship point. Federer answered with a backhand pass of his own. The match stopped again for 30 minutes of rain before the deciding set began in near darkness.
A reign ended at 40 straight wins
The victory halted Federer's 40-match winning streak at Wimbledon, a run stretching back to 2002. It also denied his bid for a record sixth consecutive title. Nadal became only the third man in the Open Era to complete the French Open–Wimbledon double, after Rod Laver and Björn Borg.
Nadal had played with his foot anaesthetised, he later revealed. "I had to play with my foot asleep," he told interviewers for Movistar.
When the final point ended at 21:15 BST, Centre Court was nearly dark. The match would stand as the longest Wimbledon singles final in history for eleven years, and the last played without a roof. Nadal collapsed onto the grass, a five-time Grand Slam champion who had just shifted the landscape of the sport.
