{"id":201687,"date":"2026-06-18T08:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:38:16","slug":"i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/","title":{"rendered":"'I never imagined something like this' – Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It remains arguably the greatest men’s match ever played.<\/b><\/p>\n

The drama, the quality, the implications of victory for either Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer – it all contributed to an unforgettable masterpiece which concluded as darkness descended on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, nearly seven hours after the 2008 singles final began.<\/p>\n

It ended in a seismic five-set victory for the then 22-year-old Nadal, and one the 22-time Grand Slam champion now sees as being crucial to his future success.<\/p>\n

“To be able to beat the best player on grass in a final, after all the things that happened during the match, was something to be proud of,” Nadal told the BBC’s Sporting Witness earlier this year.<\/p>\n

“But I was a player that, because of my character, I was never 100% in peace.<\/p>\n

“I had achieved that, but now I have to keep going. That’s the way my mind worked all my tennis career – and that’s what I did.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

During his career, Nadal established his status as the undisputed ‘King of Clay’.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard won 14 of his 22 major titles on that surface at Roland Garros, where a plaque bearing his footprint was unveiled on Court Philippe Chatrier in tribute to his achievements.<\/p>\n

Because of his superiority on clay, some doubted Nadal’s ability on other surfaces. While he did not have those same doubts internally, a statement Slam triumph away from the French Open felt crucial to silencing the critics.<\/p>\n

“I always had in my mind that I need to play well on grass and in every surface to become a complete player,” Nadal, 40, said.<\/p>\n

“I was not that bad. The truth is, I was achieving a lot on hard and grass courts but, because I was winning on clay, people considered me a clay-court player.”<\/p>\n

After winning his first French Open in 2005, Nadal lost his sole grass-court match in his only tournament before Wimbledon, before suffering a shock second-round exit at SW19.<\/p>\n

Nadal did not practise on the grass after his maiden Roland Garros win – something he now regards as a mistake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Nadal won another French Open title in 2006. The day after lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires, he was already practising on the grass.<\/p>\n

That year, he reached the first of what would be three successive Wimbledon finals against Federer, who had not lost at the grass-court major since 2002.<\/p>\n

Federer had beaten Nadal in four sets in the 2006 Wimbledon final – including a first-set bagel – and five sets 12 months later. He arrived at the 2008 championships as the five-time defending champion.<\/p>\n

But, four weeks before their Wimbledon showdown, Nadal had destroyed Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0 in the Roland Garros final to give him the confidence he could dethrone his rival.<\/p>\n

“I lost already two finals. In 2008,\u2029I arrived to the tournament ready. For me, it was a huge goal to win Wimbledon,” Nadal said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The final between the pair was one of the most anticipated of their rivalry – but few could have predicted what unfolded in a five-set, near-seven-hour rain-delayed epic that is etched into history.<\/p>\n

Nadal entered the Wimbledon final on a 23-match winning streak, a run that included lifting the Queen’s title and his fourth straight French Open triumph.<\/p>\n

He picked up exactly where he had left off in Paris against the Swiss, storming into a two-set lead.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard inflicted the first blow on Federer’s serve in the third game and then saw off two break points to serve out the set at 5-4.<\/p>\n

And he took complete control as he battled back from 4-1 down in the second, winning five games in a row to go two sets up.<\/p>\n

“I started the final playing well – first set very well, second set\u2029was a little strange and Roger made a couple of mistakes,” Nadal reflected.<\/p>\n

“But then as the match starts to become more level, Roger raised the level of his tennis. He was more and more aggressive.”<\/p>\n

Federer appeared on the ropes as he trailed 0-40 on serve at 3-3 in the third set but recovered with five straight points to hold. Then, at 16:51 local time, with Federer leading 5-4, the rain began to fall.<\/p>\n

“I was ready to keep going, to be honest. I was confident that I will not fail: Roger could beat me, but I will not fail,” Nadal said.<\/p>\n

“If he plays better than me, OK, but I cannot fail mentally. That was my real goal.<\/p>\n

“I went back on court with the determination to stay 100% ready to fight until the end.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The players were able to return to the court after 18:00 and both held serve to take the fourth set to a tie-break.<\/p>\n

A missed backhand from Federer left Nadal just two points from the title at 5-2 – but the Swiss won the next four points, including a double fault from the Spaniard.<\/p>\n

Federer had a first set point at 6-5, Nadal a championship point at 7-6, and another at 8-7 following a stunning passing shot, but Federer eventually forced a fifth set after 18 points.<\/p>\n

“I lost the third set. All good – he played very well, served very well. But the fourth set tie-break was a heartbreaker for me,” Nadal said.<\/p>\n

“You feel seconds away to win Wimbledon and, after that second, you need to fight for another set after losing two sets in a row against the best grass-court player in history. <\/p>\n

“Mentally, to organise all of this was a challenge.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

As the tension ramped up, the rain returned shortly before 20:00 with the deciding set poised at two games apiece.<\/p>\n

Nadal and Federer returned half an hour later, with about an hour’s playable light left once they resumed.<\/p>\n

Darkness crept in as the match stretched beyond 21:00, the set continuing on serve until Federer faltered on a fourth break point in the 15th game at 7-7.<\/p>\n

Whatever happened when Nadal walked out to serve for the championship, the referee had already decided that would be the final game of Sunday’s play.<\/p>\n

Nadal reached a third championship point – but Federer escaped with a stunning backhand. A huge first serve set up his fourth and, this time, Federer sent a forehand into the net.<\/p>\n

An exhausted Nadal collapsed on to the grass in celebration, before climbing up into the stands to celebrate with his family and team.<\/p>\n

The scoreboard read 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7 to Nadal. After four hours and 48 minutes of tennis, Wimbledon had a new champion.<\/p>\n

It would be the last match to be played on Centre Court before a roof was installed. No final at SW19 would ever be quite like it again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“It’s impossible to explain what I felt in that moment,” Nadal said.<\/p>\n

“It was a dream playing on this court. But win? I never imagined something like this.<\/p>\n

“That helped me to become number one in the world, without a doubt. It helped me to keep believing in my abilities, that I can win in other places.<\/p>\n

“2008 was an amazing step forward in my career, because I showed myself that I was able to win outside of clay in a Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

“It’s one of the most emotional matches in my career, without doubt.”<\/p>\n

A year later, Nadal would win his first Australian Open title. 2010 brought him a first US Open to complete the career Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

He would win Wimbledon once more and play Federer many more times – but it is the 2008 final that has lived long in the memory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It remains arguably the greatest men’s match ever played. The drama, the quality, the implications of victory for either Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer – it all contributed to an unforgettable masterpiece which concluded as darkness descended on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, nearly seven hours after the 2008 singles final began. It ended in a seismic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n'I never imagined something like this' - Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'I never imagined something like this' - Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It remains arguably the greatest men’s match ever played. The drama, the quality, the implications of victory for either Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer – it all contributed to an unforgettable masterpiece which concluded as darkness descended on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, nearly seven hours after the 2008 singles final began. It ended in a seismic […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tahrir News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T08:38:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Tahrir News\",\"description\":\"News all over the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/\",\"name\":\"'I never imagined something like this' - Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win - Tahrir News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T08:38:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-18T08:38:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/category\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"'I never imagined something like this' – Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4\",\"name\":\"megahed\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"megahed\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'I never imagined something like this' - Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win - Tahrir News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'I never imagined something like this' - Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win","og_description":"It remains arguably the greatest men’s match ever played. The drama, the quality, the implications of victory for either Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer – it all contributed to an unforgettable masterpiece which concluded as darkness descended on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, nearly seven hours after the 2008 singles final began. It ended in a seismic […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/","og_site_name":"Tahrir News","article_published_time":"2026-06-18T08:38:16+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/","name":"Tahrir News","description":"News all over the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/","name":"'I never imagined something like this' - Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win - Tahrir News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-06-18T08:38:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-18T08:38:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/18\/i-never-imagined-something-like-this-nadal-reflects-on-wimbledon-2008-win\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/category\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"'I never imagined something like this' – Nadal reflects on Wimbledon 2008 win"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4","name":"megahed","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"megahed"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201687\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}