Wimbledon’s Trilogy of Five-Set Finals, 2007-09 (Part 1)

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at Internationaled.org

Published: February 17, 2011

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This is a three-part series, which will recap and reflect on the three finals with which Wimbledon was graced in the years 2007-09, the first ever occasion when the All England Club had enjoyed three straight years of five set finals.

It has been nearly two years since the last, when Federer broke Roddick for a record 15th grand slam; yet the magic still lingers in the collective memory, and it is worthwhile wondering in retrospect on the significance of these years, in 2011.

The first of our trio, the final of 2007, was in many ways a turning point in the tennis decade of the 2000s. It was the first time that a final would go five sets since 2001, but unlike that match, between two Wimbledon finalist heartbreakers, Ivanisevic and Rafter, this was destined to be a veritable battle royale, between the undisputed top two players in the world, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Federer had bestrode the grass of Wimbledon like a spectre, a surreal, unworldly athlete, gliding along the grass with the most exquisite grace and ease. For four years, in fact, he had been almost unbeatable on this surface and at this tournament. Yet already in 2006, his most dominant Wimbledon yet, there had been some intimations of the shadow that would engulf his nebulous reign—his nemesis without par, Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard had trudged his way to the final, on occasion bogged down by troublesome opponents (Mikhail Youzhny taking him to five sets), but ultimately proving too destructive, too good.

But the first few games of the match was more a contest between king and joker, with Federer very quickly up to a 3-0 lead. But at 3-1, Nadal broke back with a stunning backhand winner that defied all human possibilities as to stomach core strength—the sort of cracking down the line winner he would start, only then, to hit with considerable and fearsome consistency.

The match became more tense, as it headed to a tiebreak. Fed...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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