A part of the storied Federer–Nadal rivalry, it pitted then-top ranked Roger Federer against then second-ranked Rafael Nadal.

[a] Between 2004 and 2019, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had a storied rivalry that many contemporaries considered to be among the greatest in tennis history.

[15][16][17][18][19][20] As they entered the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, the two men had combined to win 14 of the previous 16 Grand Slam titles (10 by Federer, 4 by Nadal).

Nadal had recently won his fourth French Open (all in succession), defeating Federer comprehensively in their third consecutive final of that tournament.

In the Open Era, only two men had previously achieved this feat: Rod Laver (1969) and Björn Borg (1978, 1979 & 1980).

[29] Although the players were due on court at 14:00 BST on 6 July 2008, rain delayed the start of the match by about 35 minutes.

BBC commentator Andrew Castle said, "The two best passing shots of the tournament, without doubt, have just taken place on the last two points.

Nadal then served out the match in the following game and won the final set 9–7, claiming his first Wimbledon and fifth Grand Slam tournament singles title.

It was overtaken by the 2019 men's singles final (4 hours and 57 minutes), another match involving Federer, in which he lost to Novak Djokovic.

By winning the match, Nadal achieved the rare French Open–Wimbledon double ("Channel Slam"), joining Rod Laver and Björn Borg as the only men to do so in the Open Era at the time.

Nadal went onto to win a total of 22 Grand Slams, and regained the number 1 ranking on several occasions, most recently holding the position in February 2020.