FEDERER - A TRUE CHAMPION

IT'S BEEN more years than I care to remember since I last watched the Men's Singles Final at Wimbledon live.

But this year's rain was literally heaven sent.

Having been out working all day and early evening, there's no way I'd have seen this game otherwise... as none of my methods of taping the game would have lasted as long as the match did.

Congratulations to Spaniard Rafael Nadal for coming out on top 9-7 in the final set having won the first two.

Perhaps he'll come to Brum soon to see the spiritual home of the sport he now bestrides.

Lawn tennis as we know it is said to have been invented in Edgbaston, where a house in Ampton Road has a commemorative blue plaque.

What's more, the Edgbaston Archery and Lawn Tennis Society, founded in 1860, is the world's oldest Lawn Tennis Club. Olé!

When he looks back on this match in years to come, the guy Nadal will thank the most for his win will be Roger Federer.

In trying to go one year better than Bjorn Borg - whose legend was fired thanks to his rivalry with Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe - the five-times champion's determination to hang on to his crown made Nadal's win in Wimbledon's semi-darkness all the sweeter.

What's more, Federer took his defeat like a man.

One doubts if many of our Premiership footballers will have been watching this as an object lesson in sportsmanship, but we can but hope.

In the meantime, I'll be screening the final set of this match to my three children before they get the chance to see Spain v Germany at the climax of Euro 2008.

When tennis is played to this standard, the sport has no equal.

One of these years, I'll even consider how you go about having any chance at all of getting tickets for a Wimbledon final.

Tennis is usually off my radar for 50 weeks of the year, so the thought normally only crosses my mind half way through the tournament!