Have to grab my cliche and superlative bags for this. A match for the ages. A classic. A titanic struggle. An epic battle.
Borg-McEnroe all over again. Ali vs. Frazier. Thrilla in Manila. Rumble in the Jungle.

It's 4:49 a.m. Philippine time, and I have just witnessed on TV, Star Sports, to be exact, a historic tennis championship match between the Spaniard Rafael 'Rafa' Nadal, and five-time and defending Wimbledon champ, the Swiss Roger Federer. It was one of, if not, the most exciting tennis finals I've seen in my lifetime. The quality of play was just out of this world. It was what you would expect if two combatants who have perfected their skills meet. Impossible gets, and spectacular rallies. For almost five hours, the two athletes gave it their all, and when the smoke cleared, only one was left standing. And it was Rafael Nadal, defeating Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7.

Even before the championship match started, I knew that Nadal had a great chance of winning this year's Wimbledon. Slowly but surely, he had closed the gap. It was evident in his demolition of Federer at the recent French Open, and the dominating way he won his matches on the way to the finals. 

When Star Sports anchor VJ Armitraj said during the last rain delay -- which interrupted the fifth set -- that Nadal might have lost his chance (when he failed to win the fourth set, and thus the championship) I was skeptical. Time and again, the Spaniard had shown his tenacity, and mental strength, although there were hiccups, like in the tie break of the aforementioned fourth set when he was just two points away from the championship and he double faulted and then, made an unforced error, sending the ball to the net with a very tight backhand. Federer rallied and took the set to force a fifth set.

But Nadal soldiered on, eventually breaking Federer's serve, and holding on to his own, to win the final set 9-7.

The match was so close and exciting that I just had to share the moment with my Dad back in the Bicol. I roused my Mom from sleep by ringing her cell phone and asking her to wake up my Dad when the play resumed after the last rain delay. I just wish he didn't go back to sleep, for even if one wasn't in the venue itself you could sense that it was a very special event which even a Hollywood script would be hard pressed to conjure. 

At any rate, the King is dead. Long live the King! :D 

***

Btw, here are the answers to this day's hottest search queries related to Wimbledon:

Federer's girlfriend is Miroslava 'Mirka' Vavrinec, also a former WTA tennis player. She retired in 2002 after a foot injury. She's from Switzerland, too.

Nadal's age is 22. He just had his birthday last June 3.

Federer's age is 26. He's turning 27 on August 8.