The men's doubles competition saw no seeds advancing but Australian Open runners-up and Wimbledon defending champions Arnaud Clément & Michaël Llodra were forced to withdraw before their first match, because of Llodra's left arm injury, which had already caused his retirement in the singles earlier in the day.[4][8]
In the men's singles, 2006 and 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Rafael Nadal advanced past German twenty-seventh seed Nicolas Kiefer in straight sets, 2007 Wimbledon semifinalist Richard Gasquet edged compatriot, twenty-eighth-seeded Gilles Simon after four sets and little more than two hours on the score of 6–3, 6–3, 6–7(3), 6–3, and unseeded Serbian Janko Tipsarević matched his 2007 Wimbledon performance, as he qualified for the fourth round in defeating twenty-fifth seed Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets 7–6(1), 7–6(3), 6–3. Twelfth seed Andy Murray lost one set to his opponent, former ATP No. 2 Tommy Haas, but eventually won the match after two-hours-and-a-half of play, on the final score of 6–4, 6–7(4), 6–3, 6–2, nineteen-year-old Croatian Marin Čilić defeated fourteenth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, and Mikhail Youzhny prevailed at the end of a four-hours-and-fourteen-minutes-long five-setter against Radek Štěpánek, on the score of 7–5, 6–7(5),6–4, 6–7(4), 6–3.[33][34][35]
On the women's side, Elena Dementieva and Venus Williams advanced to the fourth round, alongside second seed Jelena Janković who fought back from being led one-set-to-love, to defeat thirty-first seed Caroline Wozniacki 2–6, 6–4, 6–2, and twenty-first seed Nadia Petrova, who upset 2007 US Open and 2008 French Open mixed doubles champion and sixteenth seed Victoria Azarenka in straight sets and two tie-breaks 7–6(11), 7–6(4). Australian Open doubles runner-up Shahar Pe'er and French Open singles runner-up Dinara Safina battled during three-hours-and-twenty-five-minutes, with Peer dominating up to the midst of the second set, when the Russian came back, saving one match point, and Safina dominating up to the end of the third set, when Peer came back, breaking her adversary one final time to claim a 7–5, 6–7(4), 8–6 victory.[33][36]
Middle Sunday in Wimbledon is traditionally a rest day, without any play, and this was the case in 2008. The seventh day of the competition, consequently, was Monday 30 June.
Day 7
Five-time Wimbledon winner, defending champion and World No. 1 Roger Federer advanced to the tournament's quarterfinals for the seventh time in ten participations past former World No. 1 and 2002 Wimbledon titlist Lleyton Hewitt after less than two hours of play, on the score of 7–6(7), 6–2, 6–4, while second seed, 2006 and 2007 finalist Rafael Nadal left no hopes to seventeenth seed Mikhail Youzhny, as he defeated the Russian 6–3, 6–3, 6–1. 2004 Wimbledon semifinalist and ATP No. 43 Mario Ančić was led two-sets-to-love by Nottingham finalist and twenty-second seed Fernando Verdasco, when he started a comeback, winning the third set, and overcoming Verdasco's 4–1 lead to take the fourth, to ultimately win the match, after the two players repeatedly broke each other in the one-hour-and-half-long fifth set, on the final score of 3–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 13–11, after nearly four hours of play, and set a rematch of the 2006 Wimbledon quarterfinal against Federer. Thirty-first-seeded Feliciano López climbed back from being led two-sets-to-one, and saved three match points, the third one with an ace on his second service, to finally beat tenth seed, 2006 semifinalist and 2007 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Marcos Baghdatis after almost four hours of play, 5–7, 6–2, 3–6, 7–6(4), 8–6. In the first fourth round match involving two unseeded players, ATP No. 94 and 2003 Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schüttler dominated ATP No. 40, victor of Andy Roddick, Serbian Janko Tipsarević 6–3, 3–6, 6–4, 7–6(4), and in the second one, 2001 Australian Open runner-up and 2007 Wimbledon doubles champion, ATP No. 145 Arnaud Clément outplayed nineteen-year-old Croatian, ATP No. 55 Marin Čilić, in straight sets 6–3, 7–5, 6–2. Former World No. 1 Marat Safin eliminated a third consecutive seed in the tournament, as he beat Rome Masters finalist Stan Wawrinka for the first time in three encounters, on the score of 6–4, 6–3, 5–7, 6–1, to match his best result in Wimbledon, a 2001 quarterfinal. Eighth seed, 2007 Wimbledon semifinalist, Frenchman Richard Gasquet entirely dominated his adversary, twelfth seed, British Andy Murray during two sets, and up to the end of the third one, when he served to win the match, before Murray broke the Frenchman back and won the set's tie-break, eventually taking back the control of the encounter, racing through the fourth set and breaking early in the fifth to win, in almost complete darkness, at 21:30 (UTC+1), after four hours of play, on the score of 5–7, 3–6, 7–6(3), 6–2, 6–4, and, reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, complete the round of eight line up.[38][39][40]
The women's competition saw top seeds continue to fall, as WTA No. 60 and 's-Hertogenbosch titlist Tamarine Tanasugarn knocked out second seed Jelena Janković 6–3, 6–2, in a mere seventy-five minutes, to advance for the first time in her career to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event, and Eastbourne titlist and fourteenth seed Agnieszka Radwańska took back the control of her match, after scoring only one game in the second set, to defeat her opponent WTA No. 4 and 2007 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–4, 1–6, 7–5. Kuznetsova and Janković's losses, together with the defeats of Ivanovic and Sharapova earlier in the tournament, meant that none of the top four seeds reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in the Open Era. The 133rd-ranked Zheng Jie also continued her run in the tournament, defeating fifteenth seed Ágnes Szávay 6–3, 6–4, and progressing to become the first women's wild card entry to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.[41] Defending champion Venus Williams advanced to her ninth quarterfinals at Wimbledon in twelve appearances, past 42nd-ranked Russian Alisa Kleybanova, and her sister Serena Williams dispatched compatriot WTA No. 69 Bethanie Mattek in straight sets 6–3, 6–3. Eighteenth seed Nicole Vaidišová recovered from the loss of the first set to win the second in a tie-break, and eventually overcome her opponent eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze after two hours of play, on the score of 4–6, 7–6(0), 6–3, Russian twenty-first seed and recent Eastbourne runner-up Nadia Petrova easily defeated compatriot and victor of Maria Sharapova, 154th-ranked Alla Kudryavtseva 6–1, 6–4, in little more than an hour, and Elena Dementieva, the highest seed remaining in the draw, crushed Israeli twenty-fourth seed Shahar Pe'er 6–2, 6–1.[38][42][43]
On 'Ladies Day' in Wimbledon, seventh seed, four-time winner and defending champion Venus Williams easily defeated 's-Hertogenbosch titlist, WTA No. 60 Tamarine Tanasugarn in straight sets 6–4, 6–3 for the seventh time in seven meetings, to advance to the semifinals. Fifth seed Elena Dementieva, the highest seeded player remaining in the draw, survived a comeback by opponent and compatriot, Eastbourne runner-up Nadia Petrova, as the twenty-first seed climbed back from being down one-set-to-love, 1–5, to win the second set in a tie-break, forcing Dementieva to raise her level of play to eventually claim a 6–1, 6–7(6), 6–3 victory, and advance to her first semifinal appearance in Wimbledon, against Venus Williams. Sixth seed, two-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams needed only fifty-one minutes to dispatch her quarterfinal opponent, fourteenth seed, recent Eastbourne winner, nineteen-year-old Agnieszka Radwańska 6–4, 6–0, and proceed to her fifth Wimbledon semifinal in nine appearances. In the last quarterfinal of the women's event, Chinese wild card, 133rd-ranked Zheng Jie, upset eighteenth seed Nicole Vaidišová after three sets and nearly two hours, on the score of 6–2, 5–7, 6–1, to continue her run in the tournament and reach her first ever Grand Slam semifinal in a singles draw, to meet Serena Williams. Zheng, who had already set a record for the furthest progression by a women's wild card at Wimbledon, also became the first Chinese player to reach the singles' semifinals in a Grand Slam tournament.[46][47][48]
For the second time of the competition, rain perturbated the play in Wimbledon, stopping all ongoing matches in the morning, and once more for an hour in the early afternoon, allowing the play to resume only around 16:30 (UTC+1).
Five-time Wimbledon winner and defending champion, World No. 1 Roger Federer scored his sixth straight win over ATP No. 43 Mario Ančić since the Croatian won their first encounter in the first round of the 2002 Wimbledon Championships, the last match to date Federer lost at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, as the Swiss ace defeated his opponent 6–1, 7–5, 6–4, in less than two hours of play, and advanced to his record-setting seventeenth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal. In the second quarterfinal of the day, which decided of Federer's opponent, ATP No. 75, former World No. 1 Marat Safin secured his seventh career semifinal spot in a Grand Slam event, the first since he won the 2005 Australian Open, as the Russian came back from a one set deficit to beat thirty-first seed, Dubai runner-up Feliciano López, on the score of 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(1), 6–3. In the first quarterfinal of the bottom half of the draw, 2006 and 2007 Wimbledon finalist and ATP No. 2 Rafael Nadal completely dominated his opponent, twelfth seed Andy Murray, in less than two hours, defeating the British in straight sets 6–3, 6–2, 6–4. The match between Rainer Schüttler and Arnaud Clément to decide of the last semifinalist, Nadal's opponent, was stopped due to darkness right after Clement evened to score to one-set-all.[49][50][51]
In the women's doubles competition, sixteenth seeds, 2001 Wimbledon doubles champion Lisa Raymond & partner Samantha Stosur came out the winners of the first of the four quarterfinals matches, defeating unseeded pair Ekaterina Makarova & Selima Sfar 6–4, 6–3. Two-time Wimbledon doubles champions and semifinalists in the ongoing singles event, eleventh-seeded Serena Williams & Venus Williams outplayed thirteenth-seeded duo of American Bethanie Mattek and Indian Sania Mirza on the score of 6–4, 6–3, to secure a spot in the semifinals. The third match of the day saw top-ranked and defending champions Cara Black & Liezel Huber overcome Australian Open runners-up and Wimbledon sixth seeds Victoria Azarenka & Shahar Pe'er 7–5, 7–6(4), to advance to a semifinal against Raymond & Stosur. In an encounter between unseeded teams, Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy & Australian Casey Dellacqua prevailed over Spanish duo Nuria Llagostera Vives & María José Martínez Sánchez 2–6, 6–7(6), 6–4, to meet the Williams sisters, and complete the semifinals line up.[49][52]
Rain delayed play again, stopping all matches for a short time in the mid-afternoon, and once more for a longer period in the late afternoon. Play resumed at around 18:00 (UTC+1).
The men's last quarterfinal, stopped before the night on Day 9, resumed on the score of 6–3, 5–7, to see ATP No. 94 Rainer Schüttler win the third set's tie-break, ATP No. 145 Arnaud Clément win the fourth's after a rain delay, and the two former Australian Open runners-up battle through the fifth set, with Clement first holding a match point on the German's serve, Schüttler breaking but immediately being broken back, the rain stopping the play at 6–6, 40-all on the Frenchman's serve, and, eventually, Schüttler breaking Clement right after the play resumed and win, on his third match point on the score of 3–6, 7–5, 6–7(6), 7–6(7), 8–6, after five hours and twelve minutes played on two days, and reach his second Grand Slam semifinal, setting up a clash with Rafael Nadal. The match became historically significant as the second longest men's singles match in terms of time played, in Wimbledon history, the longest remaining a 1989 second round match between Greg Holmes and Todd Witsken, which lasted five hours and twenty-eight minutes.[53][54][55]
The first semifinal of the women's singles saw four-time winner and defending champion, seventh seed Venus Williams dominate her opponent Elena Dementieva during the first set, winning it 6–1 in thirty-eight minutes, before the Russian fifth seed fought back in the second, breaking Williams right after losing her serve to even the score, and holding to a second set tie-break. The American then left no chances to Dementieva, breaking her repeatedly to win the tie-break 7–3, and claim a 6–1, 7–6(3) victory, after nearly two hours of play, to advance to her thirteenth Grand Slam final since the 1997 US Open, her seventh in Wimbledon. The second semifinal between two-time champion, sixth seed Serena Williams and wild card, WTA No. 133 Zheng Jie followed the same pattern as the first, with Williams dominating her opponent in the first set, winning it 6–2, and the Chinese fighting back in the second, taking the match to a tie-break after holding a set point on Williams's serve. Williams, though, kept her edge on Zheng, winning the tie-break 7–5, to claim a 6–2, 7–6(5) victory, and proceed to her eleventh Grand Slam final since the 1999 US Open, the fourth in Wimbledon. Venus and Serena Williams's wins marked the first time since Wimbledon 2003 the two sisters would meet in a Grand Slam final, the seventh time overall, with Serena having won five of their six previous Grand Slam final meetings, including the two played in Wimbledon, in 2002 and 2003.[54][56]
In the first men's doubles semifinal, which lasted more than three hours, being interrupted several times by rain delays, World No. 1s and 2006 Wimbledon champions Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan battled a close match against eighth-seeded 2002, 2003 and 2004 championJonas Björkman & partner Kevin Ullyett, but the top-ranked Americans lost all three tie-breaks played against their adversaries, allowing Bjorkman & Ullyett to win on the score of 7–6(3), 5–7, 7–6(5), 7–6(9). The win meant Bjorkman would reach his fifteenth Grand Slam doubles final since the 1994 French Open, Ullyett would reach his third one since the 2001 US Open, and the pair would reach their first Grand Slam final together. The other semifinal, between ninth seeds Lukáš Dlouhý & Leander Paes and second seeds Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjić was stopped due to darkness as the latter led 7–6(4), 4–6, 6–1, 3–3.[54][57]
The quarterfinals of the mixed doubles event continued, and saw all-Russian, unseeded pair of Igor Andreev & Maria Kirilenko upset all-Czech pair and third seeds Pavel Vízner & Květa Peschke in straight sets 6–3, 6–4, to reach their first Grand Slam semifinal together. In the second quarterfinal of the bottom half of the draw, unseeded team of men's doubles No. 1 Bob Bryan & former women's doubles No. 1 Samantha Stosur defeated ninth seeds and 2007 French Open mixed champions Andy Ram & Nathalie Dechy 6–4, 6–2, to join Jamie Murray & Liezel Huber in the semifinals. Finally, top seeds Mike Bryan & Katarina Srebotnik took three sets to beat their quarterfinal opponents, fifth-seeded Kevin Ullyett, who had just won his men's doubles semifinal, & Ai Sugiyama, Srebotnik's usual partner in women's doubles, on the score of 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, to set up to a clash with Andreev & Kirilenko, and complete the semifinals line up.[54]
The first semifinal of the men's singles was the eleventh encounter between World No. 1 and defending champion Roger Federer, and former World No. 1, now 75th-ranked and victor, earlier in the tournament, of ATP No. 3 Novak Djokovic, Russian Marat Safin, whose appearance in the semifinals was the first in a Grand Slam since he won the 2005 Australian Open, where he defeated Federer in the semifinal. The Swiss broke Safin in his first service game, racing through the first set to take it 6–3, before the Russian raised his level of play, and both players went on keeping their serves to a second set tie-break, which Safin eventually lost 3–7, letting Federer take his two-sets-to-love advantage to pressure him, and eventually break in the last game of the third set to claim a 6–3, 7–6(3), 6–4 victory, in less than two hours. The win meant Federer would reach his sixteenth Grand Slam final, and his sixth consecutive one in Wimbledon, already equalling Björn Borg's record of runs at the tournament, from his first win at the 1976 Wimbledon Championships to his lost final, after having won five consecutive ones, to John McEnroe at the 1981 Wimbledon Championships. The second semifinal opposed ATP No. 2, French Open and Queen's Club Championships winner, and defending finalist Rafael Nadal, to unseeded, 2003 Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schüttler, ATP No. 94, who finished his semifinal against Arnaud Clément only on the previous afternoon, after three-hours-and-a-half of play. Nadal raced early to a 4–0 lead, taking the first set 6–1, before Schüttler started to fight back, breaking the Spanish and dominating him through the second set, keeping his serve until 5–4, when serving to even the score to one-set-all, Nadal broke him, eventually winning the set in a tie-break 7–3, and keeping his edge on the German up to the end of the third set to win, in little more than two hours, on the score of 6–1, 7–6(3), 6–4. The win allowed Nadal to advance to his seventh Grand Slam final, his third consecutive one in Wimbledon, and set up his eighteenth meeting against Roger Federer, the sixth in a Grand Slam final.[58][59][60]
Seeded players out: None.
The second men's doubles semifinal, between ninth seeds Lukáš Dlouhý & Leander Paes and second seeds Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjić, and which was stopped by the night on Day 10 as the latter were leading 7–6(4), 4–6, 6–1, 3–3, resumed, to see the Czech Dlouhy and the Indian, 1999 Wimbledon champion Paes break their opponents and win the fourth set, taking the match to a fifth one, in which 2002 Wimbledon doubles runner-up Nestor & 2004 and 2006 runner-up Zimonjic made the difference, ultimately clinching a 7–6(4), 4–6, 6–1, 4–6, 8–6 victory, to face Jonas Björkman & Kevin Ullyett, and try, for Nestor, to finally complete a career Grand Slam and for Zimonjić, to win his first ever Grand Slam title.[58]
The semifinals of the women's doubles took place, first confronting 2000 and 2002 champions and eleventh seeds Serena Williams & Venus Williams, to unseeded Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy & Australian Casey Dellacqua, with the Williams sisters, who lost no set since the beginning of the competition, dominating their opponents throughout the encounter, winning the match 6–3, 6–3, after only an hour of play and advance to their third doubles final in Wimbledon, having won the two first ones. That win also marked the second time since the 2002 Wimbledon Championships Serena and Venus Williams would be facing each other in the singles final, and be present together in the doubles final. The top half of the draw's semifinal took place between top ranked, recent Birmingham and Eastbourne winners and defending champions Cara Black & Liezel Huber, and sixteenth-seeded 2001 doubles champion Lisa Raymond & partner Samantha Stosur, with the latter taking the early advantages in each set, breaking the World No. 1s four times during the encounter and eventually knocking them out of the tournament on the score of 6–3, 6–3, in little more than an hour, to reach their fourth Grand Slam final together, after the 2005 US Open, the 2006 Australian Open and the 2006 French Open.[58]
In the first semifinal of the mixed event, top seeds Mike Bryan & Katarina Srebotnik entirely dominated their unseeded opponents Igor Andreev & Maria Kirilenko to win the match on the final score of 6–4, 6–2, after little more than an hour, and proceed to their first Grand Slam final together. The win allowed Mike Bryan to advance to his fourth Grand Slam mixed final, his second in Wimbledon after finishing as the runner-up in 2001, and Srebotnik to advance to her eighth Grand Slam mixed final, her first in Wimbledon. Twelfth-seeded defending champion Jamie Murray & partner, women's doubles No. 1 Liezel Huber made the strongest start of their semifinal against unseeded Bob Bryan & Samantha Stosur quickly taking the first set 6–2 in twenty-one minutes, before Bryan & Stosur started to fight back, taking the second set to a tie-break, easily winning it 7–1, and extending their domination in the third set, eventually taking the match 2–6, 7–6(1), 6–4, to reach their first Grand Slam mixed doubles final together. The final would be Bob Bryan's sixth, the second in Wimbledon, after a 2006 loss, and Stosur's second, after the 2005 Australian Open. The win marked the second time in the year Bob Bryan and Katarina Srebotnik would face each other in a Grand Slam mixed doubles final, having already confronted at the French Open, set up the first ever meeting in a Grand Slam final of Bob and Mike Bryan, and marked the first time, with Stosur's win, a player would be present in both the doubles and the mixed doubles final of Wimbledon since Cara Black in 2004.[58]
The final of the women's singles competition started at 14:00 (UTC+1) on the Centre Court of the Wimbledon's All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. WTA No. 6 and sixth seed, 2002 and 2003 Wimbledon Champion Serena Williams and WTA No. 7 and seventh seed, 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007 champion Venus Williams met for the third time in a Wimbledon final, and for the seventh time overall in Grand Slam finals, with Serena winning five of the six previous encounters. Serena made the stronger start, breaking her sister in her first service game, and quickly took a 4–2 lead, as Venus struggled with her return. The momentum of the first set then shifted, when Venus started to play more aggressively, breaking Serena to even the score, and breaking her again in the last game to win the set 7–5 after fifty-three minutes. Venus struggled again with her serve in the beginning of the second set, saving a break point in her first service game, She was broken in her second, but broke back to 2–2. Both players then held their serve up to 5–4, when Serena found herself serving to stay in the match at 15–40, saving the first match point, but losing the second on an unforced error to give Venus the break and a 7–5, 6–4 victory after one hour and eleven minutes of play.[61][62] The win allowed Venus to defend her title and was her fifth Wimbledon title, her seventh Grand Slam title overall.
The men's doubles final followed the women's singles' one on Centre Court. The eighth-seeded team of ATP doubles No. 21 and former World No. 1 and three-time Wimbledon doubles champion Jonas Björkman & current ATP doubles No. 14, partner Kevin Ullyett, the oldest pair in the field, both aged thirty-six, met the World No. 2 duo of Daniel Nestor, a Wimbledon 2002 runner-up & Nenad Zimonjić, a finalist at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in 2004 and 2006. Both teams remained close through the first two sets, with neither pair breaking the other, and each set going to a tie-break, the first won 14–12 by Nestor & Zimonjic, the second 7–3 by Bjorkman & Ullyett. The second seeds proved more efficient in the third set, winning their only break point and holding their advantage to the end to take a two-sets-to-one lead. The fourth set resembled the third, with Nestor & Zimonjic converting their two break points, while their opponents were unable to attack them on their service games. Nestor & Zimonjic won the match 7–6(12), 6–7(3), 6–3, 6–3, after more than two-hours-and-a-half of play, making them the 2008 Wimbledon champions.[63] The victory marked Nestor & Zimonjic's first as a team in a Grand Slam tournament, after finishing as the runners-up of the French Open. It also allowed Nestor to become the twenty-first player in tennis history and the eleventh in the Open Era to complete a career Grand Slam, after winning previously at the 2002 Australian Open, the 2004 US Open and the 2007 French Open. He is also the third male player to complete a career Golden Slam, as Nestor also won the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics.
The last final of the day to be played on the Centre Court was the women's doubles'. Eleventh-seeded two-time winning pair of Serena Williams & Venus Williams, who had just won the women's singles crown, met sixteenth-seeded Lisa Raymond, & 2002 champion Samantha Stosur, also in course to play the mixed doubles final in the tournament. The Williams sisters proved to be as dominant through the final as they were during the whole competition, in which they lost no set and knocked out several seeded teams, among them French Open champions Anabel Medina Garrigues & Virginia Ruano Pascual, as Serena & Venus broke twice in each of the sets, saving three break points in the first set, and not facing a single one in the second, to claim the 2008 Wimbledon doubles title after a mere fifty-eight minutes of play, on the score of 6–2, 6–2.[64] The doubles title was Serena & Venus' third in Wimbledon, and the seventh overall together, since the 1999 French Open. The win also marked the third time the sisters won the doubles title of Wimbledon while one of them won the singles title, and the second in which they won the doubles while both of them played the singles final.
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.[65]
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.[66] 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.[66] 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.[65] Pundit and three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe lauded it as "the greatest match I have ever seen."[67] With a final score of 6–4 6–4 6–7(5) 6–7(8) 9–7.
The mixed doubles' final was originally scheduled to be played on Centre Court following the conclusion of the men’s singles final. As the latter was suspended due to rain repeatedly and with the risk of daylight running out, the mixed doubles final was moved to a near empty court 1. 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.
