It was not unexpected that Rafael Nadal won his second Wimbledon. Nadal exposed some of Berdych’s weaknesses. He gives you so few opportunities to take advantage of a match that you have to take them when it’s available. Right now, it seems the only way Nadal will lose is some player that can outhit him rises through the ranks.
In the first set, Berdych’s movement wasn’t that great, but that was partly attributable to Nadal going for the lines more. Nadal made more errors this way, but Berdych was having a hard time chasing shots down. Nadal broke in the middle of the first set and broke a second time to take the first set, 6-3.
Berdych was a little more comfortable in the second set, and threatened to take it to a tiebreak, but again, was unable to hold serve at the end and lost the second set, 7-5.
By the third set, Berdych was attacking more, and still had some chances to break, but again, couldn’t get some easier shots in, and eventually lost the third set, 6-4.
So after 3 years of 5 setters, we’re back to a straight set win for Rafael Nadal. He wins his 8th major, and is the second youngest player to reach his 8th major (next to Borg).
Rafael Nadal didn’t play his best tennis, but he exposed Berdych’s movement and Berdych was unable to play focused enough tennis to win enough big shots. He also struggled on Rafa’s serve missing a lot of returns and giving Rafa relatively easy holds.
