Happy for Berdych that he has really brought his mental game up so far ... lets see how he handles the toughest mind in tennis.

Nadal in 3 easy sets. Berdych will show why he is, precisely, Berdych.

This is going to be the most boring Wimbledon final in many many years.

rafa in 4 it is!!!

Boris Becker: Tomas Berdych must shake off 'choker' tag

Whichever way you look at it, on this stage everything comes back to frame of mind. On one side of the net today is Tomas Berdych, a player of exceptional talent, the first to knock Roger Federer out of Wimbledon before the final since 2002, but also a man untested in a Grand Slam final and a man who has had the stigma of being a choker attached to him. On the other side is Rafael Nadal, the world No 1 and the most intimidating figure in tennis.

Rest of article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon/7870224/Bo ris-Becker-Tomas-Berdych-must-shake-off-choker-tag.html

I'll defnitely like it in 4.. As much a Rafan as I am.. This is the first time I actually like his opponent as well.. New territory! :))

Hat off to berdych. If he wins today, having beaten world nos. 1, 2 and 3, no wimbie champion will ever have done more to earn it.

That said, I'm expecting rafa in 3 (tho it might just go to 4). When it comes to power play, no one out-slugs rafa.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/2010/07/04/murray-admits-his- respect-for-spanish-ace-may-wreck-his-wimbledon-dream-115875-22380610/

must read articles for all, especially for muzza.. here are some of the things murray said about rafa.



He said: "Rafa is great for tennis. I love the guy. It's as simple as that. As a player I think he is the best thing that has ever happened to tennis.

"I play so much tennis, but he's the only guy I love to watch.

"I have a lot of respect for him as well. Whenever I have won against Rafa, 'sorry' is the first thing I say to him - just as he said it to me on Centre Court.

vamosrafa :-)

How much time we have to wait for the match to start?

I am already sore waiting lolz.

Vamos Rafa !!!

raindrops - it starts in 2 and a half hours

Why are we waiting?!?!

Vamos Rafa!!

Jesus Christ, that LONG?

Cheers everyone let's have some bottle of beers while waiting for that LONG 2 and 1/2 hours.

apparently it's really windy in wimbledon today. how does everyone think that will affect the match?

Windy? Then they should close the roof so no wind intervention during the play. Both of them will certainly get affected with swirling wind and since the roof is available then they should utilize it to cover the court.

I agree with raindrops! Nothing should influence them!!

Has the roof been closed in the past 2 weeks?

i think only once and if i recalled right it was Nole's match (can't remember what round).

They closed the roof for the Djokovic/Rochus match so that they could carry on playing after dark to finish the match, but I doubt that they will close it for wind. On the other hand, they might need an excuse for using the roof, having spent so much money on it.

They will not close the roof because of wind. The only person it's going to give an advantage to is rafa because he imparts topspin on the ball and is therefore able to control the ball in the wind where as berdych who hits the ball flat will struggle immensely keeping the ball in.
Advantage rafa if this is the case. Life just got worse for berdych

"The Mallorcan holds a six-match winning streak against the Czech, which includes a 2007 Wimbledon quarterfinal success"

this makes me nervous. berdych seems to be in the habit of ending losing streaks this year

Sib69,

Not true, he has ended his 8 losing streak to Federer in Miami 2010.

yeah, like i said - this year. i didn't specifically say at wimbledon

But this is a slam final.. Berych's first? Some extra pressure for him?

In that case you better keep that thought with you. Shiver and quiver with that thought alone, SCARE YOURSEL lolz.

Of course, Rafa is not going to slip this big opportunity out of his hand. He's playing on top of his game, remember that.

Oh yes Raindrops.. and let us not forget he needs his hand on this trophy again after having to succumb to injury last year.. He'll will want this one BAD!!!!!!!!

I seem to recall Nadal handles windy conditions pretty well - in fact probably better than most. Definitely going to inhibit Berdy tho and reduce his chances of executing his trade-mark 'painting the lines' forehand.

Somebody posted the comment 'this will be the most boring final ever!' That's one of the stupidist remarks ever. (a) no match with Rafa playing, final or otherwise, could possibly be boring. (b) that's insulting to both players and (c) he/she can not have seen Berdy playing over the last few months.

Watching England lose yet another match in the World Cup - now, that really was boring.

Exactly Soekie, Nadal wants this one sooooo badly.

Matter of fact, if we can visualize the brain of Rafa, we can actually see 6-0,6-0,6-0 as in, he cannot afford to lose even a single game in this match, as bad as that.

while waiting, maybe we need atr here to scare us out of our wits.

Poor Bercdych.. And I really like him as well! This is going to be an EXCELLENT final! I cannot wait!!

Nadal retire before the match even begins.. book it! ATR enough for you?

ATR is still attending his grand-grand mother serving her 3 sleeping pills and singing lullabies for the poor old woman just to ensure she will be fully sedated and not a nuisance when ATR watch Rafa's match. I am NOT suggesting that ATR killed his grand grand mother bwahahaha.

Right now ATR is too busy composing the comments ready to post the moment Rafa loses so much as a game.

Raindrops: you would be better occupied influencing the wind. We want enough to send Berdy's shots wide but not enough to disrupt Rafa's serve. OK? If you can hold off the rain at Roland Garros, controlling the wind should be child's play.

I start whisling ed to make the wind blow harder.

woiiissstt
weisssttttttttt
wiesssssssstttt !!!

When the wind blow doesn't really matter to Rafa !!!

Vamos Rafa.

rafa in 3 sets ... though i do not wish for it .. i think Rafa is in prime form .. some resistance .. but rafa should prevail ...

I see them coming to the court.

Berdych is shitting himself!!!!!! He looked tortured making the long walk out and it is windy!

Enjoy the match everyone, this time I'm going to watch it for real!!!

VAMOS RAFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and good luck to Berdych!

That's great Soekie ... so much better!

the match has started and 40-0 start for berdych and the missed forehand from nadal means berdman holds. rafans do let me know if any of you needs my commentary services..lol..but i hope every rafan here is able to watch our hero. oh and start off with an ace ! :D :D

The long wait is over.

Vamos Rafa!

I would love that vamosrafa, Please.

too many nadaltards are overconfident of a nadal win.

u have no idea how good berdych is playing.

Jake Garner in the chair again. Interesting.

you just wait ATR till Rafa settles his nerves.

berdych reading everything nadal is doing.
nadal is nervous.

Berdych is totally "ON"!!! GO Tomas!!

ATR, berdych has NOT been able to read the nadal serve at all.

ATR...CMONN...BRING IT... MAKE ME LAUGH!!!

lol just watch birdman give nadal a thrashing.
nadal seems to think berdych will just lay down for him.

nadal taking things easy and birdman is giving everything nadal can handle.

Ooh it's Darcy .

0ps! lol hickup

ATR... DID YOU SEE THAT... Berdy is so confident... he even gave one game advantage to Rafa...

ATR, you amuse me greatly. I love how you analyze a match. :D

no worries, birdman can break the nadal serve easy.
nadal's serve is operating at half rat power.

woooooohoooo !!!

Keep pummeling Rafa until the finish line and hold that winner's cup.

Vamos !!!

"half rat power"...well man ...you are killing me....
thumbs up!!!!!

hahah overconfidence will come back to bite u in the backside.

birdman is just getting his teeth into the match.
its his first final, give him a break, he will settle down, then nadal is in MASSIVE trouble.

1st set Rafa. Rafa has actually served twice as many aces as Tomas.



VAMOS!

OK...OK...whatever you say....lol

Nadal pulled up on that forehand a bit. oops.

wohooooo first set to Rafa 6-3.

Keep the tight grip Rafa, don't blink and keep pummeling till the finish line.

Vamos !!!

aces:

nadal 4
berdych 3

how is that twice?

stop lying.
ur getting too cocky.

come on birdman, smash him bro.

those who say nadal serve isnt great, just read this :

SOderling's serve was BLASTING every one away with his serve at RG and in the finals nadal out-aced him for a large part of the match and i think they finshed with almost similar aces.

now he is out-acing berdych whose serve didnt get broken against nole and one or two times against fed...LOL .

ooops forehand leaking errors, come one rafa get ur focus back.

Rafa having a brain fart. Tomas should have broken by now.

Nadal served his way out of trouble right there. LOL. When do you get to say THAT?

nadal is lucky.
never ending luck for this nadal.

cheryl, it was a relatively poor game form nadal but he played the brk pnts perfectly well. an excellent 2nd serve and a good 1st serve to set up a forehand winner. glad he held on .... looks like 1-1 now

Nice point from Berdych.

nadal has missed some forehands and its odd...normally his forehand is one fire in such big matches. but still playing the big points really well with controlled aggression.

Murray says Rafa's serve is more difficult to return than people think.

i told u vamosrafa,

nadal is screwed.
he thought berdych would lay down for him taking him easy, and now berdych is here to play and nadal is stunned.

never underestimate ur opponent, esp. an opponent that cleaned up federer and djokovic.

murray always kisses nadal's ass.
he always says nadal is his favourite player.

u cant believe him.
nadal has a weak serve, period.

ATR,
the evergreen clwon,
we know that!!
now, you get ready...
rafa will finish the job in an hr or so..
get ready to prepare a good speech for rafa...
you are due one..

lol overconfidence.

@clayking

berdych is playing well now, nadal cant break his serve now.
u watch birdman step it up and take this set.
that will shut u up.

ooooooo Miguel Angel. <3

haahahh...nicee ATR :P whatever, murray is perhaps the best returner so if he says so then we have to believe. even roddick said it, queens 08 semi final , roddick lost and then commented that nadal's serve is a weapon on grass, its very tough to return .. rafa hardly needs his serve on clay and on a hard court it gets s bit exploited ..


amzingly , nadal avergaed 105 mph in the french open (entire fortnight)...here on grass he averages around 115mph... so he deliberately holds back on serve on clay

Deleted.

Rafa will break here.

Nadal has Berdych running from side to side. This will wear him down sud the match go stretch to 4th or 5th set.

vamosrafa - it is not to his benefit to serve big on clay. A big serve is rarely effective on the dirt anyway, and Rafa WANTS his opponents in long points because they'll get tired and he won't.

I've long contended that Nadal doesn't get nearly enough credit for his on-court acumen. This is a guy who knows how to win.

Rafa will try his best to break here. ;)

who in the world does nadal not get tired and everybody else gets tired?

nadal is not human?
is he a machine?

ATR sometimes he does seem bionic.

if this goes to a tiebreak berdych is red hot favourite.
nadal has a poor tiebreak record and has lost pretty much all his wimbledon final tiebreaks he has played.

Too bad for Berdych ... poor game at just the wrong time.

going to be an easy 3rd set for rafa.

wooohooooo Rafa 2-0.

Keep the tight GRIP Rafa, don't blink and keep pummeling till the finish line.

Vamos !!!

Tie-Break? What tie-break?

Rafa 2 sets to love.

VAMOS!

Rafa seemed somewhat sleepy in this second set but he woke up at exactly right time...Vamos Rafa!!!!

Nadal in 3 easy sets. Berdych will show why he is, precisely, Berdych.
This is going to be the most boring Wimbledon final in many many years.
Emiliano55 , 7/4/10 5:59 AM


Told you so

maybe berdych can do what murray did and break nadal early in the 3rd set

ATR,
start preparing the speech..
this match , if it lasts more than half an hour from here, will be a testament to berdych's fighting spirit..
BTW, rafa has won 16 straight sets against berdych..
from the last 4 years, berdych is to rafa what roddick has always been to fed..

yes he is like a machine, nobody can match his physical strength. oh yessssssssssssssssssss 7-5 nadal !! wohooo !!

I was hoping for more from Berdych, but then he is playing Nadal after all. I've seen him (for sure), playing better. Egy bee gees type of feeling from Berdych I guess. Just not up to the task without balanced nerves, which is understandable. The point is Nadal is a great player period. The greatest right now.

nadal is such a defensive player, he had a chance to go to net but he stayed on the baseline.

speed up the grass wimbledon.
this is green clay.
this is not grass

atr we rafans love you. if rafa wins, it's because of you. thanks you, thank, you thank you!!!

oh shut up.
go berdych.

I just realized that after this match there will be a long lull in tennis ... great for the players to have some time off ... but it will be hard to wait for Toronto in August.

the forehand hasnt worked like it did againt murray but still he has played ALL the big points PERFECTLY WELL. this match aint going beyond this set.

too good

This should be over in three. Happy 4th of July to Kelli, Cheryl and Ricky (and all others in US).

lol over in 3?
r u kidding?

berdych is playing much better now than before.

Emiliano55 agree wid u

ATR,
few more minutes before your speech, acknowledging rafa!!

Oh yes smr, thanks for reminding..
To the tennistalk team of reporters, and fellow posters from US,
Happy 4th of July..

lol berdych will win this set.
u just watch.

then i will come and say i told u so.

happy 4th of july ..

berdychs hands gnna shake nw!

yes!!!!! number 8!!!!! Vamos Rafa!!! you are the best!!!

there is it!!!!!!!
no. 8 overall, and no.2 at SW19..
amazing achievement..

nice call, attacker

never in doubt to people who know tennis

Congrats Rafa fans~ Enjoy the moments!

ATR, you are always spot on with your anti-jinx, keep it up will ya.

Thanks a lot.


VAMOS RAFA!

great win, but this was just formality. Never any doubt at all

Congratulations to Rafa and all his fans, as most (!) of us thought Rafa was all over Berdych today. His forehand is incredible, the best in tennis at the mo.
Have got to say this, sorry folks, but Andy put up much better resistance for two sets at least!!

Brava Rafa! Not broken once.
8th Slam, @nd Wimbledon, 2nd Channel Slam.
Vamos Rafa!

Congratulations to Rafa's fans. :-)

ATR,
something is due..

Congrats Rafa ....

There are miles to go ...

thank u rafa....u continue to bring joy to our lives.......god bless u

VAMOS!!!!

Thanks to all tennis fans for the warm and sincere congratulations to Rafa and his fans.

Rafa successfully buldozered his way to win the French Open.
Rafa successfully lawnmowered his way to win Wimbledon.
hmmmm I have already in my mind what nick is apt for Rafa at US Open.
In the meantime let's enjoy another success of Rafa in his return from injury.
Speaking of injury, Rafa should do what he has said that he needs to rehabilitate his knees to make them healthy before US Open.

Cheers Rafans !!! Fist Pumps around the world.

Vamos !!!

Congrats Rafa!

happy 4th of july

Heartfelt congratulations to Rafa and all his fans. Your man played brilliant! His forehand was on-song, and everything was working exceedingly well.

And well done to Thomas Berdych. He wasn't brilliant (a combination, I suspect, of nerves and Rafa's own play) but to reach the finals of a Grand Slam, defeating Federer and Djokovic along the way, is a fantastic achievement in itself. Of course he would have preferred a win, but Rafa was just too good this time.

8th Grand Slam title for Nadal! 2nd at Wimbledon! You Rafa fans have a lot to be cheerful about at the moment. He has sure proved his doubters wrong, and in a big way. After a poor year in 2009, these past few months have been incredible. You should never count players like Federer and Nadal out, thats for sure.

Once again, congratulations. A well deserved win and a great champion.

WOW RAFA, what to say! You are simply amazing, beating a big hitter like Berdych in straight sets without dropping serves in a slam final!

What an achievement, having 8 slams, with 2 channel slams & 2 Wimbledon, 18 Masters and world no.1 ranking, all at the age of 24! Way to go Rafa, may there be more slams and masters on your way, the year end championships and of course a career slam to top it all! Well done Rafa, you certainly did not disappoint all your fans! I'm so proud of you Rafa! Vamos!

YES HE CAN!

Rafa has successfully defended his Wimbledon title of 2008.


VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where is psychic isabeau77 and NNY? Are they still reciting their prayers for Rafa to win? lolz.

True Deuce ... the semi-finals were much more exciting.
Who's watching Johnny Mac and the Borg?

goodness i can barely digest it, nadal has equalled AGASSI and LENDL in terms of slams won ! wow !

THE ONLY MAN since borg to win Rg-wimb in the same year TWICE, surely the hardest combination to win in tennis.

lol raindrops, they both probably fainted from the stress like i usualy do!!

thanks champ7 and max. agree with you champ, bad move to write off great champs.

lucky don't forget the RED slams...that's important :)

vamorafa...he needs to win the uso so he'll be the only other man besides agassi to win the golden slam (not easy to do because olympic is only every FOUR years). fingers crossed....

nd the great jimmy connors as well

As easy as it can be for Rafa .. easy win in straight sets .. good match Rafa ...

Apparently, Murray is going to sack his coach and hire Darren Cahill - see article in Expert picks.

Congratulations Rafa! He came through a brutal draw and ended the fortnight as champion once again. What an amazing end to an amazing tournament. Rafa is on top of the world once again and he deserves every accolade that comes his way. Vamos!

It doesn't matter if you are No1 seed or No 2 seed, or whether you play on Centre Court or not, you can still win the title if you have the talent.


VAMOS RAFA!

hiring Cahill might be a very wise move.

Where did ATR go? LOL. He's GREAT! :D

hahaha. just read all of atr's comments. i agree with cheryl. he's brilliant. i've never known someone predict something so badly

atr is officially my fav poster here at TT after VAMOSRAFA.......

@CK...interesting trivia....who was the first man to win wimbledon doubles title in 3 different decades.....the second man is our very own...LEANDER PAES

ATR's comments make other people look smarter.... he is just exactly like his idol... now he can't wait for next year Roland Garos and Wimbly.... can't remember he said Rafa will never win a title again, or will never win top 10 players or big hitters.... what a hater!!!!! VAMOS RAFAEL NADAL..... YOU ARE SIMPLY THE BEST!!!!