Tym Glaser

IT TOOK almost five, pulsating, nerve-wracking, rain-interrupted hours and ended in the gloom of an English summer evening, but a changing of the guard was completed on Sunday.

Spanish bull Rafael Nadal, while not officially the universe's best tennis player, can lay more than a reasonable claim to that title now after trouncing world No. 1 Roger 'The Dodger' Federer is straight sets at Roland Garros last month and then following up that feat by snatching the Swiss' cherished Wimbledon crown in one of the greatest finals ever played.

The 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 scoreline shows how epic the battle between the two greatest players of this era was, but neither figures nor words can describe how utterly brilliantly the combatants played on the worn grass Centre Court until Federer, chasing Wimbledon title No. 6, top-spinned a forehand into the net to surrender the crown and his aura of invincibility on the London stage.

tennis immortality

Nostratymus saw it coming and predicted as much to you loyal readers after Nadal's humiliation of Roger in the French finale. However, I didn't think it would take an all-time classic for Nadal to grab his slice of tennis immortality.

It brought back memories of Bjorn Borg's five-set final epic against feisty John McEnroe in 1980 but it was better than that for both drama and level of play.

Federer may just be the greatest player of all time (but I'll stick with Rod Laver); his array of strokes off both sides and the ridiculous angles he can create have put him in a tennis stratosphere ... where he has now been joined by Nadal.

The Majorcan does not have the finesse of the Swiss, but he has incredible power and speed built around an engine that simply does not stop. This dude does not give up on any point and is relentless to the point of some form of tennis torture, both to himself and his foe.

prime past

More than the French Open massacre, the loss at Wimbledon shows that Federer's prime may now be past.

He's only 26 and the rest of the men's tennis world is not exactly catching up to him, but Nadal has and he's four years Roger's junior.

The one concern about the pantaloon-wearing Spaniard is if he will simply burn out through his style of play. To put so much effort into every point must be as mentally taxing as it is physically, but he seems likeably level headed and should know what he's doing.

Having done what no man had since Borg - winning the French Open and Wimbledon back to back, there's no reason now why he can't chase the other two slams, the US and Aussie Opens, on the hardcourts.

He has the weapons and now the psychological edge over Federer as well. I'll never, ever write off the heart of a champion and I'm sure The Dodger has got a few more tricks up his sleeve but, henceforth, he'll be an underdog whenever he faces the world No. 1-in-waiting.

Later ...

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