The king is dead. Long live the king

It had been a very long Sunday afternoon and one of the most exciting Wimbledon finals of all times, but in the end we have all understood that after five years of dominance, Roger Federer is not the king of tennis any more.

The final was doomed from the start. In the first two sets Federer made lots of unforced errors and he wasted too many break points. Probably the Roland Garros left a scar on his confidence, and although he had enjoyed a good tournament at Wimbledon up to the final, he knew the real test was to face Nadal.

If the rain hadn't decided to change the screenplay of the match, Federer could have been down and out in three sets. Instead he was able to come back, win two sets at the tie-break and then... well... Nadal was amazing and I think he believed in victory more than Federer. I could be wrong, but I think Federer was too scared to lose to be able to play his best.

I really wanted Federer to win, even if my money was on Nadal. Federer's style of playing is amazing, and when he is in form, he plays with the wisdom of a Buddhist monk and the graciousness of Nureyev. Nadal, on the other hand, is all power, muscles and hard work. When I watch Nadal playing tennis I think that life is sufferance, when I watch Federer I think life could be a dream.

After this match Nadal is the first man after Borg to have won Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, even though in the '70s winning at Wimbledon was much harder than now for base-liners. Federer was very close to achieving the same in 2006 and 2007 but Nadal always stood in his way. Who knows where this Spanish kid can go now but more importantly for me and for all Federer fans is: "Will King Roger come back to be the best tennis player in the world?"

I have mentioned the rain in this post and this final will also be remembered as the last final where the rain was allowed to take part. I think from next year part of the magic of Wimbledon will be gone. No more players will be watching the sky hoping for rain or cursing the interruption. No more the rain will allow the champion a chance to come back into a game to try to turn defeat into victory.