Beginning of an Era

Day 13. Lucking number thirteen. Four hours and forty-eight minutes. Third time the charm. Twice delayed by rain. Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(8), 9-7 to claim his first Wimbledon crown.

The longest Wimbledon final in history. The first Spaniard to win Wimbledon in the Open Era. The first Spaniard to win Wimbledon since Manuel "Manolo" Martinez Santana in 1966. The first player to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back since Bjorn Borg in 1980. The first Mallorcan to win Wimbledon in history.

The lefty dethrones the king.

1981 redux.

Rafa reigns.

Raja weeps.

::

Check the Open Thread for our often-times cryptic comments about the match as it happened.

Third Time's the Charm: Nadal Achieves Hat-Trick

Rafael Nadal makes history. His 6-2, 6-2 thrashing of Fernando Gonzalez in the final at the Foro Italico makes Rafa the first player in history to win the Italian Open three times in a row.

Whatever happens, I wrote yesterday, I expect another war tomorrow. Silly me. I forgot that Fernando is a headcase who plays like crap in finals. After today, his career record in finals is 7-10.

Dare I say had Filippo Volandri not succumbed to Gonzo's backhand slice, we'd surely have had a more competitive final. And if not that, at least some atmosphere as the crowd tried to will their man to victory. I know. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

Instead of a war, we got a routine, run-of-the-mill drubbing so devoid of energy it felt like a practice session.

Oh, well.

At the end of the day, fans of Rafa and history certainly have something to celebrate.

Rafael Nadal Breaks John McEnroe's Record

It was far from easy. But Rafael Nadal outbattled Nikolay Davydenko 7-6(3) 6-7(8), 6-4 in an 3 1/2-hour nailbiter to bring his claycourt winning streak to 76 matches. With the win, he breaks John McEnroe's 75-match winning streak on indoor carpet, and stands alone among men with the longest winning streak on a single surface in the Open Era.

This was a grueling, all-out war of attrition. Rafa was no where near his best and Kolya dictated play for most of the match with his flat deep shots that dragged the Spaniard all over the dirt. But Rafa, who arguably has the biggest heart on the men's tour, fought his nerves, his fatigue, and his relentless opponent to finally take the match on his first match point.

The match featured a whopping 15 breaks of serve. Nadal broke 8 times; Davydenko, 7. The Russian wasted a set point in the first set before dropping the breaker meekly, and he needed 5 set points before closing out the marathon second set. Interestingly, Rafa served for the match at 5-3 and never got to a match point, even in the 18-point tiebreak.

As did the first two sets, the third set opened with an exchange of breaks, but the first player to draw blood eventually won the set. The victory extends Rafa's record in Rome to 16-0 and sets him up to become the first player in history to win the Italian Open three consecutive times.