Dethroned Federer maintains his dignity in wake of 'hardest loss'

THE light had virtually gone from Centre Court by the time it went out on Roger Federer's reign. He had clung on to his crown hours longer than at one time had seemed plausible, and, although he had lost his title after a run of five years, he had maintained his dignity, and if anything enhanced the respect which the rest of the tennis world has for him.

This was the way his supremacy at Wimbledon had always been expected to end, in an exhausting combat of the highest quality in terms both of the play and of the mental strength by both Federer and Rafael Nadal.

For a time, though, as he lost the first two sets while playing some way below his normal, virtually impeccable standards, Federer had been at risk of conceding his crown tamely.

Instead of losing out in the sporting equivalent of a bloody revolution, the world No 1 was close to being deposed in a palace coup. Believed to be capable of fighting to the last, this king of Wimbledon looked ready to be ushered quietly off court and led away into obscure retirement.

It could still turn out to be the case that Federer is never again the force he was, for this five-set loss on what he regards as his home turf, following so soon after the crushing defeat by Nadal in the final of the French Open, has to take a lot out of him. Still, at 26, and clearly in excellent physical shape, he can soldier on for some time to choose, provided he retains the desire to do so, the motivation and the belief that he can once again be the greatest player on grass.

The earliest signs, at least, are good for the millions who have watched enthralled throughout Federer's five years on top.

"It's been a joy again to play here," Federer said, displaying a graciousness of spirit in accord with the physical elegance he has on court. "A pity I couldn't win it under the circumstances, but I'll be back next year.

"I tried everything. But look, Rafa's a deserving champion. He just played fantastically.

"(This was] probably my hardest loss. Probably later on in life I'll go 'That was a great match', but right now it's not that much of a feelgood thing. I thought I played well, missed too many chances in the first two sets.

"I think he played well. Since the beginning of the year he's been playing well on the quickest courts. I don't think it needed a match like this to prove that.

"He's a great competitor. A great player to play against."

After losing the first sets, Federer was 5-4 up in the third when the first of two rain breaks came – the second of three delays if you count the postponed start to the match. When play resumed he took the third and then the fourth, both on tiebreaks, but he brushed aside a suggestion he had benefited from the adverse weather.

"I didn't win the final, so it didn't help that much," he insisted.

He had a similarly brisk response, at least at first, when asked if the fading light had contributed to his defeat. "It's over. What's the point arguing about it?" he asked.

When invited to expand on that comment, though, he acknowledged he thought the growing gloom had gone against him.

"I guess I would have said something if I'd broken back to go 8-8," he said when asked if he had suggested to the umpire that play be suspended.

"It would have been brutal for the fans, for everybody to come back tomorrow. But what are you going to do?

"It's rough for me to lose the biggest tournament in the world over maybe a bit of light. It's not the first time anyway against Rafa. I lost to him in Paris as well in the semis. So it's not a whole lot of fun, but it's the way it is. It was tough, but it's not an excuse. I can only congratulate Rafa for a great effort."

Federer's play in the first two sets may have been less than perfect, but the manner of his fightback made this one of the classic Wimbledon finals.

Where exactly it ranks, however, he did not want to say. "It's not up to us to judge if it was the nest ever," he said. "I'm happy we put in a great effort."

Five classic finals that set Wimbledon pulses racing

Bjorn Borg beats John McEnroe 1-6 7-5 6-3 6-7 (16/18) 8-6

With Borg going for his fifth successive Wimbledon crown, 21-year-old McEnroe, with his famous sliced serve, raced into an early lead. The American seemed to be out of juice when Borg came roaring back to claim the next two sets, before going a break up in the fourth. But McEnroe broke back to take the set into the tie-breaker, in which the left-hander saved five match points before finally prevailing 18-16. A tiring McEnroe scrapped through set five, but the Swede finally broke him in game 14 to seal a truly epic victory.

1984: John McEnroe beats Jimmy Connors 6-1 6-1 6-2

Not a classic in the traditional sense – the match was barely a contest, but McEnroe's display is still considered to be the finest exhibition of grass-court tennis ever witnessed. McEnroe in complete control of his serve-volley game dropped only four games.

1990: Stefan Edberg beat Boris Becker 6-2 6-2 3-6 3-6 6-4

This was the great comeback that never was in a display of wonderful attacking tennis on Centre Court. Becker revealed in his autobiography he had taken too many sleeping pills the night before and played the first two sets "like a sleepwalker" as the flawless Edberg strolled into a 2-0 lead. But Becker stormed back with some thrilling tennis in the next two sets before the third consecutive final between the pair, was edged by the Swede.

2001: Goran Ivanisevic beat Pat Rafter 6-3 3-6 6-3 2-6 9-7

The People's Final was the first to begin on the third Monday after rain had disrupted the Championships and ended as one of the great sporting fairytales. Ivanisevic had made three finals at the All England Club, losing in five sets to Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras in 1992 and 1998 and in three to Sampras in 1994, but, having entered as a wild card in 2001, nobody expected much from the big-serving Croat. In front of an unusually raucous Centre Court crowd the players rose to the occasion, with the first four sets split between the two. And Ivanisevic claimed an epic fifth to ensure he would not be remembered as one of the sport's nearly men.

2007: Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (9/7) 4-6 7-6 (7/3) 2-6 6-2

One of the greatest Wimbledon finals, Federer was made to work all the way to equal Bjorn Borg's five straight titles. Federer started the match like he had the previous year, racing into a 3-0 lead, but Nadal broke back, forcing him to take the first on a tie-breaker. Nadal took the second with a break in game 10 before the third went the way of the first, but Nadal, with the help of a Hawk-Eye over-rule which clearly upset Federer, took the fourth with two breaks. Federer saved four break points in the fifth, but took his game to another level to claim his fifth title.