Quote Originally Posted by mobiletype
This win was crucial for Federer. What would losing another match to Nadal particularly on a surface in which he's been so dominant do to his confidence? But all credit to Nadal. Considering that a lot of the clay-court specialists have underperformed at Wimbledon he did ever so well in proving he is worth his no.2 seed on grass by reaching the final (and taking a set) and only at the tender age of 20. IMO, I think Rafael Nadal is now the main challenger for the Wimbledon crown, leaving the likes of Roddick and Hewitt a gear behind. He showed much more fight than Roddick last year and is hitting more winners than Federer himself.
A big question must surely loom over all tennis fans and is that will the best player of today's generation be a true all-time legend by being able to win all the slams or will Nadal's presence deprive him of being able to win that illustruous French Open title.
Good points: crucial win for Fed; can he take the French and get the grand slam.

It will indeed be interesting to see how this, now fully developed, rivalry will evolve. Considering that Nadal had previously only won three matches at Wimbeldon, I wonder if he will do as well next year; I don't deny his talent and ability though, and this year's perforamnce make it difficult to imagine him going anywhere but up.

The match was a very good one (excluding Nadal's bagel), and I was starting to get a little worried for Fed when Nadal took the third. One thing that really amazes me about Nadal is that shots that would be winners against any other player, Nadal turns into attacks. He's really got that cross-court, backhand passing shot from the outside corner down (he used it a couple of times against Fed.)

Yeah, It's gotta' feel good for Mauresmo, regardless of her diplomacy, to get the win without a forfeiture.