How it unfolded
Federer pursued a sixth straight Wimbledon title; Nadal arrived fresh from demolishing him 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the Roland Garros final three weeks earlier, having lost the previous two Wimbledon finals to Federer. Nadal controlled the first two sets 6-4, 6-4. Rain halted the third; Federer survived a tiebreak 7-5. In the fourth Nadal served for the title at 5-4, was broken, made two championship points in the tiebreak, and Federer saved both for 10-8. A second rain delay pushed the fifth set toward darkness. Nadal broke at 7-7 and held for 9-7 at 9:16 p.m., with Centre Court barely visible. He became the first man since Borg in 1980 to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back and ended Federer's 237-week No. 1 streak that August. Match time: 4 hours 48 minutes.
Why it still matters
The match most often named the greatest ever marks the precise end of Federer's monopoly. Nadal, labelled a clay specialist, beat Federer on grass and reshaped the Big Three power balance; the finish in near-darkness helped drive Wimbledon's Centre Court roof decision.