If the worst you can say about Federer is that he didn’t get any better than when he was at his best (he lost a grand total of 9 matches in 2005 and 2006), I don’t think that’s much of a criticism. Those are two of the best seasons anyone ever had, and he won three more majors in '07. He’s five years older than Nadal, so you’d expect him to go downhill before Nadal.
Federer is the best of all-time, unless Nadal catches up in total majors.
Federer is declining, but the talent is also increasing that is against him. He will still win one more major, especially if Djokovic and Nadal get knocked out before he faces them.
I’ve been reading along with this thread since I don’t have a TV. Thank you everyone for posting snippets about the various matches, it kept me up to speed and added colour to the results that I’ve been tracking online.
I’m sure a lot of people saw this already, but the Bryans won the men’s doubles today. It’s their second Wimbledon ('06) and their 11th major championship overall, which ties the record for the most ever by a men’s doubles team. They have 73 titles together, which is a record. Peschke and Srebotnik won the women’s doubles. They teamed up last year and it’s the first major championship for both of them. The runners-up were Stosur and Lisicki. I always like it when a player does well in singles and doubles at the same major.
Nadal vs. Djokovic is supposed to start around 9 a.m. Eastern. It should be very interesting. Nadal has owned Djokovic in majors to this point, but Djokovic has won all their matches this year and he’s been so good lately that you wonder if that history really counts.
I didn’t see Novak win set #1 (6-4) but am watching set #2 and Novak is playing some incredible tennis as he is up a break. He is moving very well, and some entertaining points…
Djokovic is just kicking ass right now. He’s now up 5-1 and serving for the second set.
Nadal takes the third set. 1927, last time a comeback in the final from 2 sets down.
Djokovic isn’t playing like he did in the first two sets, but he seems to have found his range a little more. It’s 4-3 in the fourth and he has 0-30 on Nadal’s serve. And now 0-40! If he gets one of these three points he’ll serve for the title.
Djoker serving for the match!
Well, that’s that.
Djokovic wins!
And he did it! Outstanding performance by Djokovic that puts his ranking beyond reproach. He’s 48-1 with eight titles this year, he’s beaten Nadal five times in a row, and he’s won his first Wimbledon. It’s great to see that since late last year he found this new level in his game. He went away for a while in the third set and was shaky at the beginning of the fourth, but it’s a great performance and he absolutely got the job done. Fantastic effort.
is it traditional to eat the Wimbledon grass in celebration? (that was what Djokovic was doing, right?)
No, that was a new one as far as I know. Kissing the grass is not unusual, but I’ve never seen anybody take a bite. Nadal does take pretend bites of his trophies, though.
Usually players just fall down and then kneel for a bit. In 2001 (?), Ivanisevic kissed the ground, his chair, the umpire’s chair, two ball boys and Sue Barker, but he’d earned it.
You bet he earned it. My favorite final of all time, too.
Mine also. I nearly cried.
I teared up a little when I saw Novak won. He’s been third fiddle to Nadal and Federer so long and yet he’s only gotten better and better because of it and now it truly is paying off. Number 1 ranking and another title to add to his collection. I’m very happy for him and hope to see this trend continue for a while and maybe he’ll play dream crusher to some young upstarts for the next few years.
Finally saw the championship, which I’d set to record prior to leaving for vacation in a place that is remote enough not to have t.v. access. So I’d remained blissfully unaware of the winner, by design, until my brother casually read off the winner while we were boating in the middle of a lake. He thought I’d like to know since he knows that I follow tennis. Argh! Damn smart phones.
Even knowing the results, it was a great match, with high caliber of play by both men. Loser was gracious and unbawling, winner was gracious and bawling – just the way it should be. 
Nadal was his usual all-business self and Djokovic was his usual clownish self.
Lots of twists and turns in Wimbledon this year, all of it making for a more interesting championship. Well, except for those pesky rain delays and the lack of play on that middle Sunday when a lot of fans could watch.
I have the women’s final taped, but I already know the winner of that match, too. Hey, vacation comes first.
Now that Novak and Rafa have separated themselves from the pack in the ATP rankings. They have lapped Federer but and Fed has a big lead on Murray and Murray has big lead on “the rest”, who is the the heir apparent to the world best player that is not named Novak, Rafa, or Roger? I am looking at the mens rankings and everyone at the top is age 24 or older, which is pretty close to being “long in the tooth” in tennis terms.
I guess what I am asking, what youngster is on the fast track to becoming the next #1 player?
# Age Points Player
1 24 13,285 Djokovic, Novak (SRB)
2 25 11,270 Nadal, Rafael (ESP)
3 29 9,230 Federer, Roger (SUI)
4 24 6,855 Murray, Andy (GBR)
5 26 4,325 Soderling, Robin (SWE)
6 29 4,150 Ferrer, David (ESP)
7 24 2,780 Monfils, Gael (FRA)
8 29 2,650 Fish, Mardy (USA)
9 25 2,470 Berdych, Tomas (CZE)
10 28 2,110 Roddick, Andy (USA)
11 25 2,105 Gasquet, Richard (FRA)
12 30 2,085 Melzer, Jurgen (AUT)
13 25 1,955 Almagro, Nicolas (ESP)
14 26 1,945 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA)
15 26 1,935 Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI)
16 25 1,930 Troicki, Viktor (SRB)