Federer and Nadal braced for Beijing power shift

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be chasing more than gold at the Beijing Olympics with the coveted world number one place suddenly at stake following the Spaniard's stunning Wimbledon triumph.

Federer has occupied the top spot in the rankings for 232 weeks while Nadal has had to be content with life in the Swiss star's slipstream for 155 of those.

But the tournament in China could witness the latest dramatic switch in tennis's balance of power which seemed impossible just a few weeks ago.

Ahead of the French Open, where Nadal cruised effortlessly to a fourth successive title, the Mallorcan was too busy looking over his shoulder at the imminent danger posed by Novak Djokovic who was poised to take over his number two slot.

But after becoming the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to complete the elusive Roland Garros-Wimbledon double, Nadal is now poised to knock Federer off his perch if a complicated series of scenarios work in his favour.

The defining moment could come on the north American hardcourts, in Beijing or at the US Open where Federer is the defending champion.

Either way, the 22-year-old Nadal is eager for the Olympics to get underway.

"To play in the Olympics is very special, because when you're very young you always see the Olympic Games on television," said Nadal who'll be making his singles debut in Beijing having played doubles with Carlos Moya at Athens four years ago.

"You represent your country, that's the same as the Davis Cup, but at the same time it's completely different. When I play Davis Cup I always have this big motivation and I think in the Olympics I am going to have the same."

Despite Nadal's triumphs at Wimbledon and at Roland Garros, Federer doesn't take kindly to suggestions that he should be preparing to hand over his number one spot to his Spanish rival.

"You write what you want," he snapped after losing the five-set thriller at the All England Club, his 12th defeat in 18 matches with Nadal.

"I'm going to try and win the Olympics and the US Open and then we can talk again."

The Federer-Nadal rivalry will be one of the most fascinating at the Games with commercial backers and the game's rulers licking their lips in anticipation.

If TV viewing figures are any guide, a gold medal clash between the sport's heavyweights will be big box office.

In the United Kingdom, more than 13 million viewers watched the culmination of the Wimbledon final, a huge 47.6 percent of the TV audience.

Federer finished fourth at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and was knocked out in round two at Athens by Thomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

Despite his enthusiasm for the Games, the 12-time Grand Slam champion acknowledged, however, that Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the Australian and US Opens remain the benchmark of success.

"You're going to be judged on the Grand Slams you win and number ones," Federer says. "The Olympics are a new thing to tennis.

"Maybe in 50 years' time it will also become one of the big tournaments to win. For me it is already, but maybe some players and some fans need more convincing that the Olympics is big for tennis."

Asteroid named after tennis star Nadal

A recently discovered asteroid has been named after Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, who won his first Wimbledon title earlier this month with a stirring victory in the final over five-time defending champion Roger Federer, EFE news agency reported Sunday.

The Rafael Nadal asteroid, previously known as 128036, is of four kilometres in diametre and travels through space at a speed of 20 km per second.

It is located between Mars and Jupiter, although much closer to the former, the Astronomical Observatory of Majorca, which discovered the planetoid in 2003, said in a press release.

The decision to name the asteroid after Nadal, a native of the Majorcan town of Manacor, was taken by the International Astronomical Union in response to a request by the Spanish observatory, which said its goal is to pay tribute "to one of the greatest tennis players of all time".

Beijing Olympics 2008

The 22-year-old Nadal has already been informed of the honour and has been invited by the observatory to visit its installations in the small town of Costitx, the statement said.

Nadal, who also has four French Open titles to his credit, became the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon - tennis' most prestigious event - in more than 40 years when he defeated Switzerland's Federer in the final 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7, a match described by many experts as the greatest of all time.

Majorca is the largest island in the Balearic Islands archipelago, located in the western Mediterranean Sea.

SAY HI TO THE NEW WIMBLEDON CHAMPION

Rafa Nadal fell flat on his back in a mixture of unbridled joy and sheer exhaustion in near darkness last night as he fulfilled his dream to add the Wimbledon title to the four French Opens he has already won.

The “King of Clay” as Rafa is famously known around the tennis world is now aspiring to become the king of grass after deposing one of the finest champions this great tournament has ever produced, Roger Federer, the five times champion from Switzerland.

gripping, rain-interrupted final eventually went the way of the second seed 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 at 9.20pm local time (12.20am) after 4hrs 48min of breathtaking tennis -- the longest men’s final in the illustrious history of this tournament.

Rafa midway through a prolonged, disjointed day looked like winning in straight sets but the first and longer of two rain breaks worked in favour of Federer, who took advantage of a 69-minute breather to regroup, reconsider his tactics and win the next two sets in tie-breaks, saving two Championship points in the second of them which spanned 18 points.That took the thrilling encounter to a deciding set, just as it had been last year, but this time Rafa, who had glorious chances to win 12 months ago, would not be denied.

He was frustrated by his failure to take break points in the 11th game of the 75-minute decider but eventually accepted his opportunity to break his rival in the 15th game and then close it out on his fourth match point. Federer, who last year equalled Bjorn Borg’s modern day best of five straight triumphs between 1976 and 1980, was seeking to equal a record of six successive titles set in the 19th Century by the Englishman William Renshaw.

The Swiss maestro appeared to be in the mood to do it as he cruised through to another final without dropping a set but Rafa, who had taken a massive psychological advantage by thrashing Federer for the concession of only four games in Paris last month, entered yesterday’s showdown in equally impressive form.Rafa made an effortless transition to grass by winning the warm-up tournament at Queen’s Club before roaring through to another final for the loss of only one set in the six matches he played.

He produced what is considered to be the performance of the fortnight when he pulverised the home nation’s great hope Andy Murray in the quarter-finals on his way to earn a third successive final meeting with the world No1.The first of those finals was close, the second even closer, but the third was Rafa all the way, certainly up until the rain break. His biggest scare in episode one of the contest came when he fell heavily behind the baseline early in the first set, requiring a brief visit from the physiotherapist at the changeover.

Rafa, still only 22, stunned Federer, who will be 27 next month, by breaking serve in the third game of the match -- only the third time the top seed had suffered that misfortune during the fortnight -- and that was sufficient for him to claim the opening set.It appeared that Federer was about to turn matters his way when he raced into a 4-1 lead in the second set but Rafa responded brilliantly to that crisis by rattling off the next five games to take a two-set lead and control of the match.

Not even a cruel call of a code violation by the French umpire Pascal Maria for taking two long between points while serving could knock the Spaniard out of his confident stride.The third set produced some outstanding rallies and was nip and tuck all the way until rain, which had delayed the start by 35 minutes, returned and the two gladiators were brushed aside by the court covers before scurrying away to the locker room.When they reappeared with the world’s most famous tennis court bathed in evening sunshine, Rafa faced the daunting task of having to serve to stay in the set at 4-5.

The Spaniard was up the challenge but the Swiss held his nerve in the ensuing tie-break to take the tremendous battle into a fourth set.The swashbuckling Spaniard came within two points of the title in the 10th game of that nerve-wracking fourth set but Federer showed what a true champion he is by holding on to go into another tie-break.Rafa led 5-2 but tightened noticeably and double-faulted to reprieve his rival. He still got to match point at 7-6 and again at 8-7, only for Federer to produce his best tennis of the match and squeeze through it 10-8.

How Rafael Nadal out-warriored Roger Federer to become the world's best

When Nadal lost to Federer in last year's Wimbledon final, the Spaniard wept after being so close to victory. On Sunday, after a 288-minute marathon, Nadal again had tears in his eyes. This time he was a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 winner.

We've just witnessed the best final ever seen at Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer gave the sport a title tilt that tennis may go another four decades or more without coming close to repeating.

In this final – the third year in a row these two players have vied for ultimate honours in men’s singles – the tennis world saw two men who would simply not relent to any tricks their nerves were attempting to play on them.

Instead, they both chose the warrior’s path. That’s the one where they kept fighting and fighting and fighting - trying to prevail in what became the longest Wimbledon men’s final ever. And when the last ball was struck as near darkness crept over the court at 9:16pm London time, it was Nadal, the Spanish sensation, who had won his first Wimbledon title by upending the five-time defending champion.

It was great drama - two rain delays mixing with pummeling battles from the baseline. Nadal was unable to take advantage of two match points in the fourth-set tiebreaker. So the match proceeded ending up the latest finishing final in Wimbledon history. That was only fitting, given the incredible showdown waged on Centre Court.