As Rafael Nadal came out for the start of what was to be the most dramatic and tense men’s Wimbledon final yesterday he shook hands with Manuel Santana, who in 1966 had become the first Spaniard to win the men’s title here. After two sets it appeared that Nadal, the runner-up to Roger Federer for the past two years, had done enough to earn his own place in tennis history. That was to ignore the brilliance and resolve of Federer, the champion since 2003 and a man who gathers a cloak of invincibility around his shoulders once he passes through the gates of the All England Club.
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