Articles on Wimbly 08

Interviews:

Nadal & Federer On-Court Interview
R. Federer Post-Match Interview
R. Nadal Post-Match Interview

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By Journalists/Writers:

The Spin Master
Imposing his game on grass, Rafael Nadal ripped powerful topspin and sidespin shots to dethrone Roger Federer in a Wimbledon marathon that was the greatest match of all time.
L. JON WERTHEIM for Sports Illustrated

The Green Clay of Wimbledon
Congratulations to Wimbledon. I hope the tournament officials of the All-English Club are happy. Sunday they got a nearly five hour tennis match that, for the television viewer who began watching at eight a.m. promptly, took up their entire morning and most of their afternoon.
D.K. WILSON for The National Sports Review

Final drama provides special ending
Just when you thought this tournament had seen everything – and it had seen a lot of things: Venus Williams winning her fifth title; the top four ladies’ seeds all eliminated by the end of the first week; the resurgence of Marat Safin; a first British girls’ winner since 1984 – this topped it all.
BYRON VALE for Wimbledon.org

Nadal, new king of Centre Court
Wimbledon has a new king. Rafael Nadal dethroned Roger Federer after a five-year reign by winning the longest-ever Wimbledon men's final.
RONALD ATKIN for Wimbledon.org

Sublime Spaniard stretches the imagination
So now we know. For 65 matches spanning six years we have wondered who could possibly be the man to stop Roger Federer on grass, and at Wimbledon. Did such a player exist, or was Federer's elegant supremacy such that the mere idea was the stuff of ridiculous imagination?
KATE BATTERSBY for Wimbledon.org

Roger unravels on Centre Court
As the light faded over Centre Court, an era faded with it. Roger Federer's grasp on the Championships was finally loosened by Rafael Nadal in a final that will be remembered forever by all who saw it.
ALIX RAMSAY for Wimbledon.org

Darkest hour for Federer
After his epic five-set battle, Roger Federer was due in the press interview room at 9.55pm, with the newly minted champion Rafael Nadal next up at 10.20pm. Perhaps to make sure that he would only have to do the 10-minute minimum as the world waited for him to dissect his defeat, the beaten finalist eventually appeared, red-eyed and disconsolate, at 10.10pm on the dot. What followed was as much of a roller-coaster as the match itself.
DREW LILLEY for Wimbledon.org

Nadal delighted with amazing win
Over the past two weeks Rafael Nadal has had a number of evening matches, culminating in very late press conferences. Tonight, the clock had ticked past 10.35pm when the 22-year-old emerged for his post-match interview, but the bleary-eyed journalists let him off, engaging in a rousing round of applause when the new men's singles champion stepped in the room.
HELEN GILBERT for Wimbledon.org

Nadal triumph means Federer faces greatest ever challenge
The five-times Wimbledon champion will need every ounce of his fighting spirit if he is to maintain his position on top of the men's game after his defeat on Sunday.
PAUL NEWMAN for The Independent

Federer rocked by hardest loss
Roger Federer admitted losing his Wimbledon crown to Rafael Nadal was the toughest defeat of his career.
The Press Association

Federer still No. 1 in tennis rankings
Many tennis observers now regard Rafael Nadal as the top men's player after his stirring five-set Wimbledon victory on Sunday, but the computer says the honour goes to the man he conquered. Roger Federer of Switzerland is No. 1 in the latest ATP rankings, released Monday, the 232nd consecutive week he has been in the top spot.
CBC Sports

Federer's Creaky Future?
Farewell, Roger Federer? Sonny Bunch, an assistant editor for The Weekly Standard who blogs for the magazine Doublethink, thinks Federer’s loss to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon is evidence that "Federer is done."
CHRIS SUELLENTROP for The New York Times

The baton passes, no?
Few matches live up to hype. This one did.
AKSHAY SAWAI for Hindustan Times

Match of the century marks dawn of a Spanish Rafa-lution
Rafael Nadal's epic triumph in the most extraordinary of Wimbledon finals is the best advertisement for tennis since... well, since Roger Federer arrived as a grand slam champion five years ago with a game to die for.
LiveNews.com

VIEW: It could be the start of a new era
The score line - 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 - said it all. In one of the most dramatic and tense Wimbledon finals in many years, Rafael Nadal edged Roger Federer out to win the Wimbledon title. But more than the result, the game could well be a turning point in men's tennis.
The Times of India

COUNTER VIEW: One swallow does not a summer make
In the longest Wimbledon men's final in history, Rafael Nadal finally succeeded in defeating world number one, Roger Federer, on a grass court. But does Nadal's victory indicate a changing of the guard, as many have suggested? Is the loosening of Federer's vice-like grip on the Wimbledon trophy a portent?
The Times of India


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From Other Players:

Henman on Nadal's Wimbledon Win
Rafael Nadal's victory over Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon men's final is the best match I have ever seen.
TIM HENMAN for BBC Sport

Fish to Fry
I spoke with Pete Sampras yesterday, and he says "Hi' to all his fans at TennisWorld. We talked mostly about the Wimbledon final, and his pal and hitting buddy, Roger Federer.
Peter Bodo interviews PETE SAMPRAS for TennisWorld

Roger Federer not a spent force for Fitzgerald
One lost Wimbledon final doesn't mark the end of Roger Federer's tennis dominance, according to respected Australian David Cup captain John Fitzgerald.
JOHN FITZGERALD, Australian David Cup captain

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Looking Ahead:

Beijing the Fifth Grand Slam
THE Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. And this year, a fifth grand slam: the Beijing Olympics.
TALEK HARRIS, Hong Kong, China