Rain Delays not depicted

July 13, 2011 7:50 AM

The final game of Nadal and Federer's Epic 2008 Wimbledon Final, in book form.

Design student Brian Ku created the video, featuring a flipbook style re-enactment of the final game of the match.
More commentary on the match, which was the longest in Wimbledon history at 4 hours and 48 minutes, and which some call the greatest match in history.
Spoiler: Nadal won, winning his first Wimbledon championship ever, and defeating five-time defending champ Roger Federer.


Also, previously, Federer as Religious Experience by David Foster Wallace.

posted by sweetkid (15 comments total)

I found this exciting because I couldn't remember who won...
posted by Elmore at 8:00 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

you mean the longest final match?
posted by valdesm at 8:05 AM on July 13, 2011

This match really hit home for me the fact that the top-flight professional tennis players are so far ahead of the rest of us that I, in fact, wouldn't enjoy playing against Roger Federer, not even for the challenge factor. Not only are they on a different planet, they can be there for way longer than mere mortals.

I'm not sure I could even return his serve.
posted by radicalawyer at 8:33 AM on July 13, 2011

So it's a tennis match, in book form, shown in a video? Could somebody live-Tweet it for me?
posted by Horace Rumpole at 8:38 AM on July 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

Radicalawyer, you should really read this essay.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 8:41 AM on July 13, 2011

If you're interested in that match, Jon Wertheim's book is a clever, well-written requirement.
posted by yellowcandy at 10:50 AM on July 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

Radicalawyer, you should really read this essay.
And definitely also this one.
posted by Locobot at 11:43 AM on July 13, 2011

Now I'm really curious to know what Locobot was trying to link to. Was it this?
posted by Horace Rumpole at 1:30 PM on July 13, 2011

Maybe, Horace Rumpole, but that was in my OP -- the mefi thread on that article, anyway.
posted by sweetkid at 2:01 PM on July 13, 2011

Oh, duh, you're right.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 2:17 PM on July 13, 2011

Has anyone heard any commentary about the degree of darkness and the impact that may have had on the match? TV lighting is deceptive. It was getting really dark out on the court and I wonder if that gave a slight advantage to Nadal with a little more room for error on his strokes. They were close to ending the match for the evening.
posted by Edward L at 2:50 PM on July 13, 2011

Edward L, I know Federer wasn't happy about the darkness and wanted them to end the match earlier -- such is my memory anyway. I spent the whole day parked on my couch watching it.
posted by sweetkid at 3:45 PM on July 13, 2011

I think the dampness was a significant advantage for Nadal -- slowing down the ball, reducing serve effectiveness, and increasing rally lengths.
posted by helot at 6:53 PM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

The DF Wallace essay made my day. Thanks
posted by From Bklyn at 11:57 PM on July 13, 2011

I watched Wimbledon from my hospital bed in Thailand. I was away from my family for two months and towards the end, I got really sick. But I was able to watch and remember so many moments from this match. Epic doesn't come close to describing it.
posted by Loomis at 5:35 AM on July 14, 2011