As rule, you use superlatives at your peril. But you’ve found safe harbor in declaring the 2008 Wimbledon men’s final "the greatest tennis match ever played.” When Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal met on Centre Court that Sunday afternoon (and evening and night) in July, it marked the rare sporting event that lived up to the considerable hype. And then eclipsed it entirely.
Roger was 26, Rafa 22. And Federer-Nadal had already become a classic sports rivalry. This was a matchup heightened by clashing styles. Righty versus lefty. Classic technique versus ultramodern. No. 1 versus No.