'I tried everything' -- but Federer falls to Nadal in all-timer

But at Wimbledon, there is no tiebreaker in the fifth set. And when it reached 7-7 and vision was difficult, the question was how much longer it would go. How much longer they could go. When Nadal broke Federer in the 15th game, it was obvious it wouldn't be much longer.

Not that the crowd, patient, partisan, some chanting "Rog-er, Rog-er," others "Ra-fa, Ra-Fa," didn't want it go on forever. And had this been next year, with the sliding roof finally installed, it might have done just that.

"The rain delays didn't make it easier," said Federer, "but you got to expect the worst. And it's the worst opponent on the best court. But look, Rafa's a deserving champion. He just played fantastically."

He did what we never thought anyone could do on grass, keep Federer off balance, guessing, groping. Not infrequently, Federer, the cool Swiss, the man who never looks like he's working, would drill a wide-open shot into the net or over the backline.

Nadal climbed into stands at match's end and embraced his family, Then, grabbing a red and yellow Spanish flag, he stomped across the broadcasters' roof to the royal box to shake hands with Prince Felipe of Spain.

What a spring and summer for that country, Nadal winning consecutive Slam events and Spain taking the biggest soccer event this side of the World Cup, Euro 2008. Ole!

Nadal led in the tiebreaker of the fourth set, but Federer came up with several aces and shoved the match to the fifth. Nadal showed his mental toughness and wouldn't fold.

"It was disappointing," said Nadal, "that I am in the same time as the best player in the history, Roger Federer. It is so very tough to play against him, especially here. I have lots of chances before I win.

"Just congratulate Roger, because he always fight unbelievable. I won, but he's still No. 1. He's still the best. He's still five-time champion here."

Federer was asked if he felt privileged to be part of so brilliant a match, not the best question for a man who just had relinquished his title.

"It was sort of nice to be part of it," he said, "and later in life might look upon it as a great match. Now, it (does not) feel good. I thought I played well, but I missed too many chances the first two sets. I guess I'm happy the match lived up to expectations."

When you lose, you're never happy.