By Mike McIntyre

It was the third round of Wimbledon and Rafael Nadal was down against Philipp Petzschner 6-4, 4-6, 6-7. It truly appeared as though his back was against the wall and with the huge bombs Petzschner kept serving one wondered how the Spaniard would be able to turn it around. But just as he seems to do some often within the context of a rally, Nadal fought his way back and turned a defensive position into one of pure offense. He steamrolled Petzschner 6-2, 6-3 in final two sets and then kicked his tournament into high-gear.

Nadal demolished P.H. Mathieu in straight sets in the fourth round, rebounded after losing the first set and took out a very in-form Robin Soderling in the quarters, gave Andy Murray fits despite the Scot's excellent serving in the semi's and today showed Tomas Berdych how to play a Grand Slam final while defeating the Czech 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to capture his second Wimbledon crown.

Rafa has completed his second career back-to-back victories at the French Open and Wimbledon and has returned to the world number-one form he displayed so efficiently in 2008 before injuries and family issues brought him briefly back down to earth.

His lead in the ATP rankings grows even further on the now second-ranked Novak Djokovic and third-ranked Roger Federer. With his eighth career Grand Slam title he ties Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Fred Perry, Ken Rosewall and Ivan Lendl on the all-time list. He improves to an incredible 8-2 in Grand Slam finals and has made the finals at Wimbledon in his last four appearances. 

Rafa's post-match press conference transcript.

Tomas Berdych (who now climbs to #8 in the rankings) post-match press conference transcript.

Comments

Great comeback from Nadal.....Nadal is the best!!!