To go along with Serena William’s easy win over Vera Zvonareva, Rafael Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to take his second title at the tournament. Although nothing like the 2008 epic — hailed by many as one of the best matches in tennis history — Nadal looked sharp from the beginning.
Berdych — who took out the reigning champion Roger Federer and number three seed Novak Djokovic — lagged behind Nadal. He failed to convert his break point chances. Nadal’s superb shot making threw off the big-hitting Czech from playing his aggressive game. Nadal looked completely in control of the match all the way until his last forehand passing shot hit its mark.
Along with solidifying his number one world ranking, Nadal’s win also means he’s repeated the difficult feat of winning the French Open and Wimbledon titles back-to-back. The impressive list includes such champions in the Open Era as Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver, and Federer. The later won both titles last year when Nadal struggled with injury and his parents’ divorce.
After a tough couple rounds in the beginning against Robin Haase and Philipp Petzschner — who won the men’s doubles title with Jurgen Melzer — Nadal rolled through the rest of the rounds. He dispatched Robin Soderling in a rematch of the French Open final and Andy Murray in three.
With this added confidence and his eighth major title overall, Nadal now holds the same number as tennis legends Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, and Jimmy Connors. With this performance, there’s no reason why he can’t push through to his first final at the US Open.
Berdych played admirably, proving he’s a real threat to win a big title in the coming years. For making it through to the finals, Berdych will enjoy cracking through to the top ten. If his US Open series plays out well — which I am confident it will — his momentum will carry over to the final Slam of the year, the US open.
Well, that concludes Wimbledon 2010. I’ll go over the tournament in more detail in the coming days.
