Welcome to the final day of Wimbledon 2010 - it is men's final day, and there's a reason they leave this one till last. We were all (except Amy) kinda hoping that Andy Murray would make it through to the final, but the power of Nadal was just too much and it's only right that the 2008 championship comes back to have another chance for the title.
Credit: John Linwood / Flickr
Rafael Nadal warming up during the second week of Wimbledon
Facing him on the other side of net is one Tomas Berdych. I've just realised I've been spelling his name with an extra 'h' all week long, so apologies to Tomas for that. I don't know much about Berdych but he has done really well so far this year. The BBC live text has a quote from a five-times Wimbledon champion.
Berdych has impressed everybody since he started to play well at the French Open. If Nadal doesn't play well he's going to lose, he needs to play his best. Nadal is the favourite but it's going to be interesting.
Bjorn Borg
The 2008 final was one of the best tennis matches ever, involving Nadal and Federer. If this match is only half as good, it will be a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The tennis gets underway at 2pm, and I'll be watching the whole thing with a punnet of strawberries and a little bit of cream. Won't you join me?
[Image licensed under a Creative Commons 2.0 license]
A local supermarket was handing out free cream with strawberry purchases. They know their audience.
Players about to go out on court.
Nadal is bouncing around like Tigger.
will this thread make more than seven comments today?
Hehe. Depends. I appear to be live commenting it by myself. :)
I think you picked a bad day.
I might as well watch. Nadal to win in 3 sets.
#blamelou
Who are those seemingly important people?
Quite windy today.
People in the crowd? Not sure. They'll tell us eventually.
No, the three people with the players.
Ronnie Wood in the crowd.
And Des Lynham!
Much bigger cheers for Nadal. The crowd aren't necessarily going for the underdog this time round.
i shall then.
Man just shouted: "I love you Rafa."
That's not going to put him off at all!
I do like that hawkeye.
If I were a ball person, I wouldn't want to be the one trusted with the umbrella. I'd have someone's eye out.
This Berdych fella isn't half bad.
He beat Federer and Djokovic, who are the 2nd and 3rd seeds, I think. So he's definitely on fine form.
Three break points for Rafa.
Two break points for Rafa.
He broke and held, so the first set looks good for Nadal.
1st set Nadal - 6-3.
Nadal seems to have stepped up 5 or 6 notches.
Break point Berdych.
Too good from Nadal! Deuce.
After many deuces, Nadal finally holds. I wonder if that was a golden opportunity missed by Berdych.
I don't think I care about this enough to stay awake because rafa will clearly win, so he can do that while I sleep.
I may have lost interest... Mr C might be onto something with this Speed Sporting idea.
w00t!
Bah. I don't care. I'll live comment by myself.
awww. :(
It is proper windy out there. Loads of dust coming off the surface.
I'd be more willing to help if it wasn't 12.13am on a Monday morning and it wasn't obvious who is going to win :(
I'll try and join you. I am on a train and can't see anything though.
i can only hear it, not see it.
alex, what do you make of the surface this year?
By saying Rafa is going to win I'm secretly hoping I can do a Paul. #gotomas
It shows the inconsistancy of NotNadal that he swings from dainty to horrible in one paragraph of El Cheese's commentry.
I think it was a little predictable for them to go for a horizontal elevation imho.
Right NotNadal is called Tomas. #learningthingsisfun :)
Has Boris Becker been singing Jumping Jack Flash? We'll be having a bit of Ron in this weeks Giggles Radio show.
He must be putting up more of a fight this set because the first one was wrapped up after 34 minutes, and this one is 3-all at 31 minutes.
Tomas without an H, unlike how I have been spelling it all week.
Trevor McDonald!
Hey multitasking means I can listen on the five live over 3G.
he beat Nadal in Madrid once and the crowd booed him, there was ~drama~
Good backhand volly from Nadal there.
That's harsh! The crowd seem to be warming to him a little. Earlier it was all about Nadal.
Five live just went to horseracing!
omg!
Hehehe, on my screen they are sitting down :)
bah!
We like an underdog.
Roger seems to be the only champion the WImbledon crowd always get behind regardless of who he is playing. Crowds are smart.
New balls issued. Oooh Colin Firth.
Was Becker eating then?
Indeed. I was surprised they didn't to start with. I thought it would be obvious we were all cheering for Tomas.
After being booed Tomas put his finger to his lips to shush the crowd and Nadal had a go at him and told him he was being rude. Tennis players can be so catty :D
Blimey. I prefer it when they're hugging and stuff :)
Oh no, Cliff Richard.
apparently Jenson is there somewhere
Zvonereva also lost her doubles final yesterday. Imagine losing two finals in a row. No wonder she was crying.
Awww.
The Australian boy loses the boys final. Now he can't add "Grand Slam Champion" to his CV next to "my brother is on Home and Away"
Hehehe! What is it about tennis and Home and Away?
the Australian Open and Home and Away are on the same TV network here. They reeeeally milked that link during it :(
Oooh, Tomas almost did the splits there.
I also like Tomas because his 7-year girlfriend is a lady tennis player and tennis couples are cuuuuuute
i.e. Federer. :)
2 sets, that is my bedtime call.
Silly Tomas, play like you played the last two matches, this defensive passive rubbish ain't working :(
Cue Nadal taking his top off.
Nadal is a different animal to the rest at the moment. Just too good.
theres Jenson!
Jenson in a nice blue top there.
I missed him. I just looked up in time to see Cliff again. Rats.
Championship point.
every single mens grand slam final this year has been lame. Bring on the US Open.
He did it.
It's rare for Xisca to show up. She's no Mirka.
It's the only one Rafa hasn't won. He will be a man on a mission in Flushing Meadows.
And on this form, who's to argue he won't win that?
me. he's never been good on that surface.
Is that the blue surface?
its one of the blue ones :D
but who can beat him? maybe federer, but he'll need to step us his form significantly. delpo? he'll be rusty coming back from injury. the andy's? maybe murray, but i'm not convinced of him right now.
Oh, I don't like them. Too squeaky.
any of the big hitters. theres quite a list of people who can beat him at the US.
I will miss most of it because the final is the same weekend as Monza. Poor scheduling, that.
Well done Rafa
All done: http://twitpic.com/22g65f
no more sidepodwimbledon for a whole other year?
Stop cheering please.
never said a word.