page_title: 2008 Wimbledon Championships – Day-by-day summaries
section_title: Day 13
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 Wimbledon Championships – Day-by-day summaries / Day 13
caption_attribution_description: Wimbledon Men's final 2008, Federer serves for 3rd set
context_page_description: The 2008 Wimbledon Championships are described below in detail, in the form of day-by-day summaries.
context_section_description: The final Sunday, featuring the men's singles final, saw Rafael Nadal win the first Wimbledon title of his career and fifth Grand Slam tournament. No. 1 seed and five-time champion Roger Federer was aiming to equal William Renshaw's record of six consecutive Wimbledon titles (1881–1886), and edge ever closer to Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam titles, of which Federer had 12. Nadal, the No. 2 seed and four-time French Open champion was Federer's challenger for the third consecutive year, and was aiming to become the first man since Björn Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. Nadal's countryman, Manuel Santana, the last Spaniard to have won the Wimbledon title (in 1966), said Nadal could take inspiration from Spain's victory in the recent European Championships, which Spain had last won in 1964.
  Rain and lightning delayed the final, scheduled for 14:00, until 14:35 (UTC+1). The final itself was a fragmented affair, with two rain delays removing the possibility of an uninterrupted final. However, the playing time made it the longest final in Wimbledon history, at four hours and 48 minutes.
  Nadal began well, winning the first set 6–4 in just under an hour, and taking the second by the same scoreline, despite having been down 4–1 at one point. The third set was interrupted by rain delays but the players returned to finish the set with a tie break, which Federer won by seven points to five. The fourth mirrored the third by also going to a tie break, in which Nadal took a 5–2 lead. Nadal was on serve but served a double fault and then was forced by Federer into a hitting a backhand into the net. Later in the tie break, Nadal had two championship points, including one on his serve, which he squandered, with Federer triumphing 10-8, and forcing a final set. The fifth set went only four games before another rain delay; the score was 2–2 (40–40) when they returned. Nadal eventually prevailed, winning the final set 9–7, at 21:16 local time. Nadal celebrated his win by climbing to his family in the crowd, including coach Toni Nadal, and then traversed a roofed area to shake hands with members of Spanish royalty. Pundit and three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe lauded it as "the greatest match I have ever seen." With a final score of 6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(8) 9-7.
  Seeded players out: Roger Federer.
  In the mixed doubles' final, the Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, met each other in the second siblings final of this year's tournament. The unseeded Bob and Samantha Stosur won the match in straight sets, 7–5, 6–4 against the first seeded Mike and Katarina Srebotnik, after one hour and one minute.
  Seeded players out: Mike Bryan / Katarina Srebotnik.
  (Pictures from Day 13)
caption: Roger Federer serves to win the third set tie-break.
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