It had been billed as a classic before a ball had been struck. It has written about as an historic moment: the great clash of the titans, Roger Federer, the eight-time Wimbledon champion against Rafael Nadal, the 12-time Roland-Garros champion.
To a certain extent, it was historic. It was the first time these two had faced each other at Wimbledon since the 2008 final. Between them, they had 38 Grand Slam titles, and, between them, they had stood at the top of the rankings for 506 weeks. That is almost five years in real money.
And as is the way of these things, as the match was built up and built up, it was made to sound as if it was the very last time we would see the two old rivals squabbling over a ticket to a Grand Slam final. (It is a weird fact of journalism that the more reverence you give something, the more you make the story sound like an obituary.) But Nadal was having none of it.
“We are not done, so... Things continue,” he said. “Just have been another episode this afternoon. Of course, as I said the other day, we know that every time is less chances to play against each other in this high quality, high important matches. Is another chance this afternoon. Sad for the loss because for me was another opportunity.
“I know chances are not forever. Last year I had chances here, I had another one, and I was not able to convert to win it one more time here.”
Federer’s 7-6(3) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in the semi-final was his 16th in a rivalry that goes back 15 years and it came as some compensation for the straight sets drubbing he took from Nadal at Roland-Garros last month. That was on Nadal’s favourite surface; this time it was on Federer’s beloved turf – and the world No.2 knows that Fed on fire on grass is all but impossible to beat.
“He is always able to do the most difficult things easy,” Nadal said. “He's able to move inside the court quicker than no one. He puts pressure on the opponent all the time because he has the ability to take the ball earlier than nobody else. That's probably the most difficult thing to make that happen, and he is able to do it so well.”
That is the magic of Federer condensed into a couple of sentences. As for what that magic did over the course of a little over three hours, Nadal was very clear. He just played better than the Spaniard.
“I think his return was better than my one this afternoon,” Nadal said. “I didn't receive well today. When that happens, he's in advantage, he's in the control of the match generally because you feel little bit more under pressure than him.
“Then I think at the end of the match I started to play much better, no? But was late.
“I think today the backhand didn't work as good as in the previous rounds. I was little bit too worried about my backhand, so I was not able to move with freedom to the forehand. I was a little bit too worried about not missing with the backhand. When that happens against player like him, is so difficult.”
Nadal will now go home, take a little bit of time off and recover from a long three months on the road, a three-month spell that has taken him across the clay courts of Europe, taken him to another Roland-Garros title and on to the Wimbledon semi-finals. It has not been a bad run and even if he lost to his oldest and greatest rival on Friday, he was pleased with the way he had dealt with his 11 days in SW19.
“I have been playing with the right energy and with the right intensity the whole tournament. Today, too,” he said. “But he played a little bit better than me.”
But that was not the end. He would be back. Federer would be back. They will do battle again.
As Nadal put it so clearly: “We are not done.”
So, same time, same place next year, then…