Wimbledon 2010: A brief history of the best finals ever
All eyes are on the centre court of SW19 on the first Sunday of July to witness an epic battle of the greats of lawn tennis. It is a day that every tennis fan looks forward to in the year; and the players almost never disappoint. The lawns of the All England Club have witnessed a volley of fierce serves and fiery forehands along with gruelling matches that befit the perfect Wimbledon final. There have been countless encounters that have caught the viewers’ attention but certain matches have remained etched in their minds forever.
The first match that comes to mind is the 2008 final between defending champion Roger Federer and his nemesis Rafael Nadal. It was a gruelling five set match with intermittent rain showers disrupting the flow of play. The stakes were high for both players with Nadal looking to break Federer's run of five consecutive Wimbledon trophies in order to claim his own maiden grass court title. The first two stunned the crowd as Nadal, defying all odds, went two sets up. Federer however powered back winning the next two sets despite the delays. As darkness descended on centre court, Federer's chances went away with the light as well. The intensity of the match was evident as the final set exceeded the 12 games which finally ended with Federer crumbling losing 9-7 in the final set. It was a moment of sheer joy for Nadal who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon Championships. The former lawn tennis maestro John McEnroe also conceded that this was the best final Wimbledon has ever witnessed. That was a moment that Nadal along with his fans would cherish forever.
Another match that bore the same characteristics of the Federer-Nadal face off was the 1980 final between Swede Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe; however the ending was slightly different. Borg was on a dream run winning four consecutive Wimbledon titles and what stood between his fifth trophy was the obstinate John McEnroe. Like Nadal, McEnroe too snatched the first set from Borg. Borg was not a player who would give up so easily as he fought back to win the second and third set. McEnroe put his all in the fourth set by saving five match points and winning the gruelling tie break 18-16. But it seemed Borg was destined to win his fifth title on grass as he fought to an 8-6 win in the final set. It was an epic encounter between two champions of men's tennis.
John McEnroe produced such quality tennis in his time that history will always remember his share of Wimbledon matches. Unfortunately for McEnroe, luck was not on his side. It was 1982 and McEnroe was meeting a man in the final who had last won a Wimbledon title eight years ago and a major grand slam tournament some four years ago. His opponent was his fellow American Jimmy Connors. Despite a title drought, Connors could not be underestimated. He produced the game of his life by beating McEnroe, who had not lost a single set on his way to the final in a gruelling five set match.
When talking about Wimbledon, one cannot forget to mention the name of Pete Sampras, who reigned supreme on grass in the nineties. His final wins were like a breeze, where Pistol Pete played with complete composure. However, this composure was rattled in 1998 when he played Goran Ivanisevic. Sampras was pulled to the maximum as it took him five tough sets to win his fifth Wimbledon title. The intrigue of the match was evident in the fact that Goran used all his force to match up to the champion, unfortunately he fell slightly short.
With the onset of Wimbledon in a few days time, it would be interesting to see which two players would face off on centre court. However, it still has to be seen whether the final would be able to make a place for itself in the history books.
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