"Wimbledon 2008 Recap "

This year's Wmbledon was pretty much a two act play. The return to dominance of the Williams sisters and the inevitable march to the Men's Final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. There were some nice sub-plots along the way. It was nice to see the return to form of Marat Safin. There were a slew of upsets on the women's side. Rainier Scheuttler made an unseeded run to the semis. Bob and Mike Bryan faced off against each other in the Mixed Doubles Final. But through it all it still came down to a Saturday and Sunday of Williams versus Williams and Federer against Nadal.

Some facts bear pointing out after Venus's victory over Serena and their combining together to win the Ladies Doubles Championship. They proved once again that they are the dominant forces on grass. With Justine Henin out of the picture there is not really anyone to threaten them on this surface except each other. To me, it seemed like this was the first final between the two where it looked like they really went after each other. Could it be that I've been wrong all these years and father Richard wasn't flipping a coin to pre-determine who would win their matches? Serena proved that she can be just as sullen and arrogant in defeat to her sister as she is to other opponents. After all, she did refer to Venus as "just another opponent." One final thought. In last year's tournament, Serena cramps up, sprains her wrist and all that is written is what a great competitor she is. Jelana Jankovic hyper-extends her knee, calls for the trainer and she is labeled a "drama queen" by everyone. Seems like a double standard to me.

What can I say about the Men's Final that has not already been said? After his humbling defeat to Nadal in the French Final everyone was ready to snatch the crown off of Federer's head and hand it to the Spaniard. This despite King Roger being the defending and five time champion. And Roger almost made them all eat their words. All credit must go to Nadal for putting the pressure on Federer from the very first point and never letting up. This was, without a doubt, the best match I've ever seen. Has there ever been a better backhand passing shot at match point down than the one Federer came up with in the fourth set tiebreak? Has anyone, other than Nadal, been able to come with passing shots on the run against Federer? It is too bad that the last few games were played in semi-darkness. They might still have been playing.

What happens now? For all intents and purposes Nadal is now the number one player in the world. With the hard court season coming up, can he reverse previous seasons' second half slumps. Federer's back is up against the wall, he has one more house to defend at the U.S. Open. If Nadal can somehow win in New York Federer may never regain the top spot. One final thought about the Wimbledon Final. Rafael Nadal may have deserved to win the match but no way in H*ll did Federer deserve to lose it.