Wimbledon Re-Lived 2008: Rafael Nadal - King of grass

Finding new words to do justice to the 2008 men’s final at Wimbledon between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer is not easy, but that’s our task on this episode as we look back on the match regarded by many as the greatest in tennis history.

There’s talk about the sense before the match that it could finally be Nadal’s time, Federer’s missed opportunities in the first two sets, the way in which their match-up favoured Nadal, Federer’s fitful forehand, why the epic fourth set tiebreak echoed Borg-McEnroe, Nadal’s ability to recover in the fifth set as darkness fell, and the graciousness between the two camps.

We also hear from Mary Carillo who explains why the match lives up to the hype, Larry Stefanki about how Nadal had adapted his game to help him thrive on grass in 2008, Nadal’s PR manager, Benito Perez-Barbadillo, on how Nadal was feeling during the fifth set rain delay, and Chris Clarey to sum up the rivalry and relationship between Nadal and Federer.

The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, and features Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners each December.

* TENNIS RE-LIVED *

We will be doing daily shows throughout the original Wimbledon dates, looking back on some of the tournament’s best matches and most important stories. You can watch a full replay of Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer from 2008 on YouTube, as well as extended highlights and the final game of Andy Murray vs. Novak Djokovic in 2013, which we will cover tomorrow.

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