Nadal joins the greats
World No. 1 says he wants to improve on every surface
Neil Harman
Rafael Nadal crushed the challenge of Tomas Berdych to become Wimbledon’s first £1 million title-holder on Sunday and match Bjorn Borg’s 32-year record of straight-sets wins in finals of the French Open and at the All England Club in the same year.
Borg, who won £19,000 for his efforts in 1978, was in the front row on Centre Court as Nadal, the 24-year-old world No. 1, defeated Berdych, of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 13 minutes of tennis higher on tension than it was on stroke-making.
Berdych could not dig as deep when it mattered as he had in defeating Roger Federer, the holder, and Novak Djokovic, the world No. 3, in the quarter finals and semi-finals respectively.
Nadal accepted that he had been more nervous than he expected in his fourth Wimbledon final in five years. He had lost twice to Federer and defeated the Swiss in a memorable climax in 2008 before returning Sunday having missed the championships last year through injury.
It may have had something to do with being the underdog against Federer, but the firm favourite against Berdych, the No. 12 seed. “If you are not nervous in a Wimbledon final, you are not human,” Nadal said.
“I was a little bit lucky in a few moments but I have just tried my best in practice, in the matches all the times. Every one of these is more special and this was not an easy year for me. To finish with the trophy here is really amazing. I didn’t expect anything before the match, except to fight on every point like it was the last.
“If you want to play well, you have to find a way to win. I move very well on this court and that is very important for me. It is important to play on grass a little bit more aggressive than on the other surfaces. But the main thing is to want to improve all the time, on all surfaces. Now it is time to enjoy the beach, fishing, golf, friends, party and Majorca.”
Nadal also had a word of praise for the Wimbledon crowds. He was astonished that, on semi-finals day, on Friday, they appeared to be split almost down the middle in support for him and Andy Murray, the British No. 1.
“It is the best crowd of the world,” he said. “More respect they have that for every player. For sure the crowd supported Andy, but they were supporting me a lot as well. That is unbelievable. I can only thank them for that.”
With his victory, Nadal joined Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Ken Rosewall and Fred Perry as a holder of eight Grand Slam singles titles. He has won eight of his past ten finals and has won the past five he has contested.
Berdych rises to a career high of No. 8 on the ATP Tour this week. “There are not that many weaker parts to his game,” the Czech said of Nadal. “I tried to play my best. It was really tough to find some special tactic to beat him, it was just to concentrate on myself, start well and hope I found some little chances. But he took them, not me.
“I need to grow up a little, get a bit more experienced and be more patient on court. The biggest difference between us was that when he got a chance, he just took it.
“He gave me one [break point] in the second set, one in the third set, and none of them I can bring to my side and just make a break. That just shows how strong he is.”
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