2008 Wimbledon

Nope Nadal doesn't drop a set and disposes of Shuettler in straight sets. So we have a great weekend of tennis ahead with the Williams sisters final tomorrow and the big Rafa/Roger final on Sunday. I favor Venus and Roger but very slightly....can't wait til Sunday.
 
Agree with those favorites. Venus is better Williams sister on grass. 4 of her 6 slams are at Wimbledon. Serena is the better all around player winning the career grand slam, winning at both the Aussie and French which Venus hasn't.

Pretty cool that 6 of last 8 Wimbledon's have been won by a Williams sister yet they get little coverage seemingly. 2 of those 6 wins were against the other. This final will make 7 or 9 and 3 of 7 being against one another.
 
One the men's side we get Fed v Nadal 3 or is it 6. I guess it depends on how you look at it. Rafa looks to be only guy to win French and Wimbledon back to back since Borg. Federer looks to extend his winning streak on grass and at Wimbledon. For those counting he has won 5 in a row at Wimbledon and 41 consecutive matches. Nadal looks sharp this year and playing better on grass than he ever has. Federer doesn't look as sharp as a couple years ago but still he hasn't dropped a set yet this tournament. Federer winning 6 consecutive tite would be a record at Wimbledon.

Looks like a titanic match. Nadal healthy and playing great. Federer's game obviously sets himself up better than Nadal on grass. On clay Federer's service is neutralized and it basically becomes a game of ground strokes which Nadal has been more consistent at lately. This year in the French final Federer's serve absolutely stunk as well and he got blown out. On grass Federer's serve is once again a weapon and Nadal's a bit of a liability. He has improved much in that area though and I think that is why his game is quickly becoming the best in the world on all surfaces. However as of not Federer's has the better all around game for grass and hard court surfaces. If he struggles were serve though this could give Nadal a huge advantage b/c Fed's 2nd serve isn't much and Nadal has best return game on the planet.

I don't know how we don't see 5 sets.
 
The other HUGE factor in the Rafa/Fed match is the mental psyche of Roger. If Rafa gets up a set this could get ugly. Fed absolutely has to win the first set against Rafa. If Roger is afraid of anyone for a grand slam final, it is Nadal. I think this should definately go 4 or 5 sets. Roger has been serving well and he if serves well he wins, if he struggles on his first serve then I think Rafa wins.
 
Agree. It comes down for Roger to how well he serves. If he has a high first serve% it will have an effect on Rafa's return. The serve is a factor on grass. Winning the first set is Roger's MO. If he wins the first set at Wimbledon I believe he is like 42-0.

Williams sisters going at it right now. Great match thus far. Venus wins first set 7-5. I would not be suprised to see her take the 2nd 6-3.
 
Nadal vs. Federer 6.

Nadal up 4-3 in 1st set with a very early break of Roger. Nadal's groundstrokes are the main difference right now as he is not making many errors and Rogers is going for a little much at times and hitting it long or into the net. Rafa's serve has improved and that is showing.
 
Nadal wins 1st set 6-4. Federer had 3 breakpoints in that set and hesitated and make errors on all 3 I believe. I don't now if it is the mental block he has with Nadal right now but it seems in those big points that he is waiting for Nadal to mishit and give it to him vs. himself going in and attacking and getting it.

For those who predicted the 1st set going to Federer being necessaryfor Roger to win then Nadal is looking pretty good right now.
 
Federer has gotten his forehand on target and it is killing Nadal now. 1st serve % is back up. He gets the early break on Nadal in 2nd set on a crushed forehand crosscourt winner.

Federer leads 3-0 in 2nd.
 
Nadal has really turned it up now. Broke Federer twice in a row now and leads 2nd set 5-4 serving for the set.

It is really a combination of Rafa serving well, hitting every groundstroke, making very little errors, and Roger just blowing his chances and then following them up with mistakes.
 
The wind is unbelieveable. I can't remember such winds and strange bounces at a Wimbledon final before. The balls are slowed by the grass and winds and kicking up from Rafa's shots almost more than they do on clay. Roger just can't adjust to it and his slice backhand and serve are just doing nothing.

Rafa's new strategy of changing his style of play depending on the point is situation is what I think is giving him the advantage. When he is behind he goes all out. When he is even or ahead he plays conservative and allows Roger to make the mistakes. Roger netted a backhand there to give the set to Nadal 6-4.

2 sets to love for Nadal.

We may very well be watching the changing of the guard ala Sampras to Federer, now Federer to Nadal.
 
A little change of events there. Nadal goes down a bit awkward but gets up shakes it off and still even in 3rd set 3-3. He is affected by his knee though. Not covering the court the same or getting the same spin on his groundstrokes that he was earlier. Federer is string the points out a bit and making Nadal open the court up and then attacking. Could be enough to get him the 3rd set if he is consistent on his forehand and somewhat okay on his backhand.

Looks like rain will delay the match soon.
 
Federer nearly blows that service game before coming up big with the serve.

Entire match he is 1 for 11 on break point chances and Nadal has been 4-6 before blowing those 3. That is first big change of this match. Federer still continues to blow his chances but for the 1st time Nadal doesn't seize his opportunity.

If Federer can get a break the momentum will have swung all the way over.
 
Fed up 5-4 in 3rd set. Nadal service game coming up. Gotta think Fed goes all out here to try and get a break.

Looks like rain delay now.
 
Match back on after rain. Both hold serve and goes to tiebreak.

Federer's serve too strong and wins 7-5. Nadal's leg looks better and not a factor there. Break helped him.

Going to a 4th set, Nadal up 2-1. I won't say the momentum has swung all the way back to Roger b/c he didn't break Nadal in that 3rd set and he is still down a set anyways. He needs to continue to serve like he did in that tiebreak, put the pressure on Nadal on his service game and convert on just one of those many squandered break points he has had.
 
Wow, you could feel the moment there. Goes to deuce and you think Nadal might break Fed again. Wins picked up slightly and ball was bouncing higher and causing Fed fits on ball toss and returning Nadal's spin return. But he holds.

3-3.

One of these guys has to let up soon. I can't imagine a 4th set tiebreak.
 
Unbelieveable. On serve 6-5 Nadal in 4th.

Fed just needs a few good serves and then 4th set tiebreak.

Nadal seems to have just a bit more momentum right now.
 
Good God.

Federer just went airborn on that 8-8 point and hit the 2 best forehands of his life. The guy has the best weapon on the game on grass and hard court surfaces and when that falls in consistently he usually wins. We'll see.

Going to a 5th set. Rafa didn't blow that set but Roger went and won it. No break points in the entire set.

No tiebreak in the 5th set if it stays this close.
 
This match is unbelievable. Both players made incredible shots in the tiebreak. For Federrer to stave off championship point on Rafa's serve was just legend. Should be great 5th set.
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Wow. They are pulling things out of their butts in this match. This is great fun to watch.
 
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