He may only be seeded 12th but Tomas Berdych is the conqueror of Roger Federer this year already at Wimbledon and has the support of previous Czech champion in south-west London Jan Kodes
Switching from clay to grass may slow Rafa Nadal's dominance from Roland Garros (not even one set dropped) to Wimbledon but it can't seem to halt the man who makes short work of fourth seed Andy Murray in the semi-final
The match begins as expected with each man taking their first service game to love with big baseline hitting between players that have made six net approaches between them in their 12 matches in SW19 this year
At 6ft 5 and 16st, Berdych is not easily intimidated in his first Grand Slam final by an opponent who has won Wimbledon, the French and Australian Opens and an Olympic gold medal
Nadal, however, asserts his control on the first set by breaking the Czech in the seventh game, the last before new balls are introduced, by moving his opponent around and beating him down the line with his forehand
Though he passes 100 aces for the tournament, the Czech is getting bossed from the baseline, only making 48% of his first serves and not getting his own service returns right, first set to the Spaniard, 6-3
Outside the show courts spectators pack Aroangi Terrace to watch Berdych recompose himself for the second set, push Nadal's first service game to deuce and hold his own first two services
Back inside Centre Court rock stars, movie idols, sports personalities and the wealthy throng alongside lucky fans to watch each man hold their first five service games of the second set as Berdych battles to a standstill
Nadal holds once again to make it 6-5 before stepping up to break Berdych's serve to love without a flicker of hesitation and leaving the Czech to rue three missed break points at the start of the set
Berdych is two sets down to a man unbeaten at Wimbledon since 2007 and to whom he has lost seven times in 10 previous encounters, the last time (at Indian Wells) and the last time at Wimbledon both in straight sets
With both players holding serve and only Berdych venturing from the baseline - four times and with little impact - the highlight of the third set is a 15-stroke rally in the ninth game, won by Nadal
Fittingly, Nadal wins the Championship with an unreachable cross-court forehand to break Berdych's serve for the first time in the set; the Spaniard wraps up the final in under two-and-a-half hours, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4
As well as retaining the All England trophy, having missed Wimbledon 2009 with tendonitis in both knees, Nadal can rest assured that he keeps the ranking of World Number One ahead of rival Federer
Meanwhile, on Court 5, top-seeded Dutch pair Esther Vergeer and Sharon Walraven win the Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles Final against Australia's Daniela Di Toro and Britain's Lucy Shuker
Fellow Netherlander Robin Ammerlaan and partner Stefan Olsson of Sweden are also celebrating on Court 5, beating top seeds Stephane Houdet of France and Shingo Kunieda of Japan
An inspiring moment for the future of British tennis on Number One Court as Lewis Burton and George Morgan take on Liam Broady and Tom Farquharson, all of the United Kingdom, in the Boy's Doubles Final
Following Nadal on Centre Court is the Mixed Doubles Final with Zimbabwe's Cara Black and part-time Bollywood TV star Leander Paes taking on Wesley Moodie and Lisa Raymond in a first set that sees five breaks of serve
What are these?
E-mail this to a friend 
Bookmark with:
What are these?