While Nadal’s recent French Open title again solidified himself as the top clay court player of his era, doubts remained whether or not another Wimbledon was in the cards. It was. Facing 12th-seeded Thomas Berdych, Nadal defeated the Czech today 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to claim his second Wimbledon championship.

From ESPN.com:

Nadal broke Berdych four times and never lost serve in 15 service games.

It’s the second time Nadal has won the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back. He is now 5-0 in his last Grand Slam finals.

With eight Grand Slam titles, Nadal joins a list of greats that includes Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Fred Perry and Ken Rosewall. He also has five French Open championships and one Australian Open title.

After ripping a crosscourt forehand passing shot on match point, Nadal collapsed on his back on the turf at the baseline and covered his face with his hands. After congratulating Berdych, Nadal leaped out of his chair and did a front somersault on the grass, rising to his feet with both fists clenched.

I’m skeptical to call Nadal the dominant player in men’s tennis, not because all of you will rip on me (I’m fine with that), but because we still need him to beat Roger Federer one more time in a Grand Slam. When Nadal and Federer squared off at Wimbledon in 2008, Nadal’s breakthrough victory alerted the world of his talent and justifiably shook Federer. Flash forward to January of 2009 and Nadal is defeating Federer in the Australian Open final, driving the point home further.

But directly after that, everything seemed to collapse. Nadal’s knees started to crumble and, even more surprising, Federer got better. After falling in the fourth round to Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open, Nadal took heed of health concerns and withdrew from the upcoming Wimbledon. Federer, on the other hand, won both of those tournaments, surpassing Pete Sampras on the all-time Grand Slam list in the process.

Now Nadal is mowin’ em down once again, and his Wimbledon win today proves that he’s deserving of the world No. 1 recognition. What’s interesting to me is that Berdych beat Federer in the quarterfinals, but was thwarted in straight sets by Nadal in the final. Is there something we can glean from this about the stages of Federer and Nadal’s careers? You might not think so. I do. But like anyone else I think Nadal needs to win one more epic Grand Slam final between the two if he wants to deserve that extra praise.

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Serena Williams needed just 67 minutes to defeat Russian Vera Zvonareva and capture her fourth Wimbledon title. It’s also the ninth time in 11 years that a Williams sister has won the tournament, the other being Venus, obviously. With her 6-3, 6-2 victory on Saturday, Serena is now 13-3 in Grand Slam finals.

From FoxSports.com:

“I’m just glad that I was able to win, especially (after) Venus lost,” Serena said. “I really wanted a Williams sister to go ahead and win it. Eleven years consistent is really cool.”

That’s something the sisters won’t be able to ignore back home in Florida.

“Now everywhere we look there’s another Wimbledon trophy,” Williams said. Then she rolled her eyes and adding with a smile, “Not another one of those again.”

While Venus may be on her way to retirement, sister Serena is in full force. I mean, the woman didn’t lose a set the entire tournament.

What’s funny is that with 13 Slams to her name, Serena is still only sixth on the all-time list. That just exemplifies the dominance of the women ahead of her.

Still, though, it’s clear Serena is the premier player in women’s tennis. After making a dent in their comebacks, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin have lost a bit of their momentum. And what happened to Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic? Serena just keeps winning.

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John Isner and Nicolas Mahut recorded the longest match in tennis history in terms of number of games and duration at Wimbledon on Wednesday – and they’re not even done. The 10-hour match (163 games) was suspended at 59-59 due to darkness.

From ESPN.com:

“Nothing like this will ever happen again. Ever,” Isner said in a courtside TV interview.

The first-round match had already been suspended because of fading light Tuesday night after the fourth set.

They have been playing each other for exactly 10 hours — 7 hours, 6 minutes in the fifth set alone, enough to break the full-match record of 6:33, set at the 2004 French Open.

Never before in the history of Wimbledon, which was first contested in 1877, had any match — singles or doubles, men or women — lasted more than 112 games, a mark set in 1969. Isner and Mahut have played more games than that in their fifth set, without a victor, although the American came close: He had four match points but Mahut saved each one.

Here are some stats from the epic match: Isner has 98 aces, compared to Mahut’s 95. Both of those numbers eclipsed the previous high in a match at any tournament, which was 78. There have been 881 points scored, with 612 in the fifth set. Isner has 218 winners to Mahut’s 217, while Isner has only 44 unforced errors to Mahut’s 37.

And again, they’re not even done yet. That’s crazy.

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Rafael Nadal has just captured his fifth French Open title, defeating Robin Soderling in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. In edging Soderling, the quirky Swede who surprisingly ousted the Spaniard last year in Paris, Nadal also seizes the world No. 1 from Roger Federer.

The match ends a marvelous run for Nadal at this year’s French Open, where he didn’t drop a single set the entire tournament — the second time he’s done so at Roland Garros. Although Soderling posed a significant challenge considering their history, Nadal’s dominance on clay, particularly at this event, was on display from the start.

Next up: Wimbledon. What Roland Garros is to Nadal, the All England Lawn and Croquet Club is to Federer. Curiously, Nadal is not optimistic about his chances at the event. Today, in a post-match interview with John McEnroe, Nadal told Mac the next he would him see would be the U.S. Open. Hopefully Nadal is just being coy.

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I’ll spare you the obligatory pun, as no doubt dozens of other publications have used one in reference to this story. (Nevertheless, I did have plenty rattling around in my head, but I knew putting one down would only satisfy myself.)

Nadal, who recently teamed with Swiss watch manufacturer Richard Mille, scheduled a press conference in Paris to promote the brand’s new product: a lightweight watch, limited to 50, that will go for $535,000. Unfortunately, the tennis star got caught up in doing things infinitely more exciting than attending a press conference (even his own), and was an hour late.

“I’m sorry for the delay but for once it wasn’t my fault,” a sheepish Nadal said following the late arrival of his flight from Majorca.

Few players wear watches during matches – although plenty put them on before they leave the court in order to satisfy sponsors – but Nadal has worked with Richard Mille to produce an ultra lightweight model. The watch weighs just 20 grams, including the strap. The Spaniard, who is naturally right-handed but plays left-handed, will wear it on his right wrist during matches and on his left away from the court.

Both Nadal and his entourage deny there has been a conscious decision to rebrand him, but the image of the ordinary young man who lives at home with his family, plays golf with his friends and shuns a celebrity lifestyle appears to be changing rapidly.

You know, even though Nadal was late, and it’s an unprofessional move, it’s not like the press doesn’t have a choice whether or not to leave. Of course, they stay, because they are the mercy of the athlete, their editor and their readership, and the story is always more important than showing up with nothing. I’m glad nobody is making a big stink about it, but I’m amazed that they would wait around just to listen to Nadal talk about watches. Well, the watch does use “aerospace technology,” so I guess it would be funny to hear Nadal try to pronounce a few difficult words.

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Ahh, some tennis news. I know how you’ve all missed it, consumed by the exciting NBA Playoffs, the equally exciting but less-publicized NHL playoffs, and the full swing of the baseball season. Well, tennis exists, and though American soccer may not in your eyes, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are here to remind you of their sport.

In extending their cordial rivalry on Sunday, Nadal edged Federer 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the Madrid final to capture a record 18th Masters title, thereby making the Spaniard 15-0 on clay for the season.

From ESPN.com:

“I’m very happy with everything so far this year. I think I’ve returned to my top form and that’s the most important thing for me,” Nadal said. “Am I favorite to win at Roland Garros? I was last year and I lost.”

Nadal, hampered by nagging knee injuries last season, reversed the result of the 2009 final — the last time he and Federer faced each other — to win in Madrid for a second time and move one Masters title ahead of Andre Agassi and two in front of Federer.

“The most important thing is winning at home; winning in Madrid is a dream. After that, I think about the ranking,” said Nadal. “Against this opponent, it’s always going to be difficult.”

The next big tournament is the French Open, which begins May 23. Most think Nadal and Federer will once again meet in the final, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say Fed falters in an earlier round. (Yes, this is all a chance for you to make me eat my words). I’m calling it Nadal and, um, Fernando Verdasco in the final. See, I can throw that out there willy-nilly because most of you probably don’t know who Verdasco is.

So: Nadal beats Verdasco in straight sets at the French Open.

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