Since 2003 only one Wimbledon final has failed to feature either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal tellingly, perhaps, in the context of what has happened more recently, Andy Murray’s defeat of Novak Djokovic in 2013.
As with McEnroe and Borg, however, they have met just twice in the final, both thrilling five set encounters and the second of them has been given the accolade by some of being considered worthy of comparison with the 1980 classic their contrasting styles similarly adding to the spectacle as Federer cut the most stylish shapes of any sportsman in history while Nadal’s raw athleticism brought a visceral element to the sport.
A combination of the elegant way he plays the game, a tally of 17 Grand Slam titles and extraordinary competitive longevity, not least given the physical demands of the modern game, make a near irrefutable case for Federer to be considered the greatest tennis player of all time, yet Nadal has a better than two to one success rate in their head-to-head encounters, winning 23 of their 34 matches and has an astonishing 9-2 winning record in their Grand Slam meetings.
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