A look at Nadal in Wimbledon finals over the years
Defending champion Rafael Nadal will take on Novak Djokovic in Sunday's Wimbledon final in what will be the Spaniard's fifth All England Club final. A look at the top seed's previous four title matches which have brought him two wins and two loses.
- Written by Agence-France Presse
- Updated: September 06, 2012 08:13 pm IST
Defending champion Rafael Nadal will take on Novak Djokovic in Sunday's Wimbledon final in what will be the Spaniard's fifth All England Club final.
A look at the top seed's previous four title matches which have brought him two wins and two loses.
2010: Defeated Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
After missing the 2009 tournament through injury, the Spaniard proves too good for Czech 12th seed Berdych, who had put out defending champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, and was rarely troubled as he won his second championship.
In securing his eighth Grand Slam, Nadal went level with Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Fred Perry and Ken Rosewall.
He also completed his second French Open-Wimbledon back-to-back double, winning both finals in straight sets.
Since then, Nadal has moved on to 10 Grand Slam titles, six behind Federer's record.
2008: Defeated Roger Federer (SUI) 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (8/10), 9-7
Widely regarded as one of the greatest finals of all time, Nadal, who had squandered two match points in a nerve-shredding fourth set tie-breaker, added a first All England Club title to his four French Opens.
Victory made Nadal only the third man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season, and the first since Bjorn Borg in 1980, while giving Spain its first men's champion since Manolo Santana in 1966.
The win also ended Federer's six-year, 65-match winning streak on grass.
At four hours and 48 minutes, it was the longest final in Wimbledon history beating the 4:16 it took Jimmy Connors to beat John McEnroe in 1982 and ended in murky Centre Court darkness at 2116 local time (2016GMT).
2007: Lost to Roger Federer (SUI) 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 6-2
Federer won his 11th career Grand Slam title and shattered Nadal's hopes of becoming only the second Spanish winner of the men's singles title to follow Santana in 1966 while Federer moved to within two wins of Sampras's record of seven Wimbledons.
But Nadal came heartbreakingly close to adding the All England Club title to his three French Open crowns when Federer threatened to self-destruct at the end of the fourth set.
2006: Lost to Roger Federer (SUI) 6-0, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (2/7), 6-3
A pulsating Wimbledon final saw Federer register only his second win in eight meetings with the Spaniard.
Federer's four defeats in 2006 had all come at the hands of the French Open champion, but he was always the favourite to win having not lost at Wimbledon since 2002.
Nadal's challenge had unravelled as early as the first set. Despite not dropping his serve since the second round, a run of 80 service games, he was broken three times in the first set and failed to serve out the second set when he led 5-4.
