The king dethroned

Unbelievable.

How do you stop someone who kept on hitting baseline winners all over the court?

By converting the break points opportunities that you've got.

Unfortunately, Roger Federer did not. And that was why he lost. That, and the fact that Nadal played like he never played before on grass.

Federer had 13 break points opportunity, but he converted only one in the greatest finals ever played by the two greatest players of all time.

Nadal beat Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 on Sunday night in a rain-interrupted match with 4 hours, 48 minutes of action, the longest men’s championship match in the history of Wimbledon, a tournament that began in 1877.

Federer lost despite serving 25 aces and smacking 89 winners, 29 more than Nadal. But he was more erratic than his opponent, committing 52 unforced errors, compared to 27 for Nadal. And those errors were costly errors, most of them committed at crucial times during the game.

Federer failed to surpass Borg by winning a sixth consecutive title or equal Willie Renshaw’s record of six in a row from 1881-86. He also had his Wimbledon winning streak snapped at 40 matches, while his overall grass-court streak stopped at 65.

Nadal broke Federer in the first set and never looked back from there. In the second set, Federer managed to break Nadal, but it was to no avail when Nadal broke back and clinched the set. The third and fourth set were close, with Federer winning the tie breakers twice. In the fifth set, the game was finally over when Federer hit a forehand into the net, ending the nail-biting finals and relinquishing his crown to his nemesis.

Nadal's first Wimbledon title. And it won't be his last too.