Why was ‘the greatest match’ so great?

JO: “All bets were off by that point. The momentum was with Federer because he’d won the fourth set. History was with Federer because he was the five-time champion, but there was still this unknown of what Nadal was going to offer in the decider. He had played so well to that point. Only a fool would have written him off. It was clear in the early games, even though Federer was serving first, that Nadal wasn’t going anywhere.”

At 19:53, with the decider poised at 2-2, deuce, the rain came again. The players went off and the covers came across. It looked like they would be coming back on Monday to finish it but it would prove a short interruption. Half an hour later, they resumed with, realistically, a maximum of an hour’s playable light left. The quality and intensity would never drop, the two men throwing all they had at each other. It was heart-stopping stuff.

JM: “I was fortunate enough that people talked about my match with Bjorn in 1980 as one of the great matches. But I was watching the 2008 final and sitting back and saying to myself: ‘This is the best match I’ve ever seen at Wimbledon.’

“Towards the end, I was virtually not saying anything in the commentary box. I thought what I was witnessing was so great and the players were rising to the occasion – anyone watching could tell it was going to be a match that people would talk about for generations to come. To me that’s an easy gig when you’re watching a match like that. When it is that good you sort of kick back and put your arms back.”

The match moved into its fifth hour. At 4-4, Federer earned a break point but Nadal saved it with a big forehand and follow-up smash. “Roger, Roger” and “Rafa, Rafa” were ringing out simultaneously. At 5-5, Nadal got to 15-40 on the Federer serve but the Swiss repelled him. The light was fading fast. With the clock having ticked past 21:00, Nadal won a thrilling point to hold for 7-7 – Federer somehow flicked a ferocious Nadal smash onto the baseline but the Spaniard put away a forehand and, with adrenaline coursing through his body, celebrated with a huge fist-pump. Would they have to stop there?

DD: I was sent out about 21:10 for the Charlie Pasarell-Pancho Gonzales match in 1969 (the second-longest singles match in Wimbledon history) and you could hardly see the white balls. The supervisor could not believe they were still playing. It was the same that day. I went down about 21:00 and thought ‘they have to call this soon’.

JO: “I always think television gives a false impression because of the filters. You had to be there to appreciate how dark it was in those final games. When it got to 7-7 it was absolutely obvious there were two more games left. They wanted to bring them off at a level score. It would have been unfair to call them back with one person serving for the match or serving to stay in the match.”

PM: “Obviously it was getting dark and the Hawk-Eye went off because of the darkness. Neither of the players mentioned it before the match ended. I think the players were so much into it that they did not even realise. We agreed with the referee, Andrew Jarrett, that we would have to stop the match at 8-8.”

Federer finally faltered when serving at 7-7. Although he saved three break points in that game, he couldn’t stave off a fourth as a forehand floated long and Nadal had the decisive break. After the change of ends, Nadal came out to serve for the championship in what was going to be the final game of the day whatever happened. He brought up a third championship point but Federer raged against the dying of the light, firing a backhand return that Nadal could barely get a racquet on. It was to prove his last salvo – two points later he sent a forehand into the net and Nadal collapsed onto the grass in celebration. Finally, after four hours and 48 minutes of compelling theatre, Wimbledon had a new champion.