World No. 1 Rafael Nadal won his second Wimbledon title on Sunday as he mastered blustery conditions at the All England Club to defeat first-time Grand Slam finalist Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the final of The Championships.The Spaniard has dominated the ATP World Tour since April, winning 31 of his past 32 matches, and came into Wimbledon having just won his seventh Grand Slam championship at Roland Garros (d. Soderling). He also achieved the Roland Garros – Wimbledon double in 2008, when he became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to accomplish the feat.
The Manacor resident is the first Spaniard in history to win two Wimbledon titles. The only other Spanish winner at the All England Club is Manuel Santana, who lifted the trophy in 1966 (d. Ralston).
“It’s more than a dream for me,” said Nadal. “It was always my dream to play on this court and today, to play a fourth final for me was amazing. I couldn’t be here last year but this year I came back and to have this trophy in my hands is more than a dream.”
“It was a great two weeks for me, but he was very strong today,” conceded Berdych. “He’s showed in the last few months that he’s really the champion and he just deserved to win today.
The 24-year-old Nadal, who regained the No. 1 spot in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings from Roger Federer after his Roland Garros triumph last month, added a further 2000 points to his tally. He has already secured his place in the elite eight-man field at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the year-end championships which will return to The O2 in London from 21-28 November.
