The boy from Majorca was upwardly mobile. His climb did not end with family congratulations. He scrambled on to be congratulated by the Spanish minister of culture, the president of Real Madrid and Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain.

He made the journey from the court to the stands in the same he way won his first Wimbledon title, step by step.

Rafael Nadal was asked after his spellbinding victory if he had any depression after losing two match points in the fourth set. He replied briskly: "When I was sitting down, I just say: I am playing well. I am doing well. I am with very good positive attitude. I played with a very positive attitude all the time, fighting a lot."

Nadal, the first Spaniard to win at Wimbledon since Manuel Santana in 1966, is not a man to complicate matters. As the match went on and it became tighter and tighter, the Spaniard retained his concentration. "I just focus on every point," he said. "Is possible to think too much. If you think too much, you not gonna play well. I just focus on next point."

This was the key to winning the greatest Wimbledon final. Many thought the Spaniard choked in the fourth set tie-break, particularly when he double-faulted. "I played a terrible two points. I accept that," admitted Nadal who went from 5-2 up to losing the tie-break.

But he showed the true mark of a champion by coming back to win after losing two sets. The fifth set was a a titanic struggle and Nadal conceded: "I was close to losing it because I have a break point against. I was close to lose, but every game when I was returning I was close to win, too."

Both Federer and Nadal said the light was very poor as the match continued into the Wimbledon night. "In the last game, I didn't see anything," said Nadal. "That's true. Was unbelievable. I thought we have to stop. Well, if I lost that game we have to stop, that's for sure."

Federer claimed that the poor light conditions played a role in his defeat. "I kept on playing. I didn't argue," he said. "I guess I would have said something if I had broken back to go eight-all because it wasn't possible to play any more. It would have been brutal for the fans, the media, for everybody to come back tomorrow, but what are you going to do? It's rough on me to lose the biggest tournament in the world over maybe a bit of light."

Federer's deep disappointment at failing to break Bjorn Borg's record of five successive Wimbledon titles overshadowed the realisation that he had played his part in a classic encounter. "Later on in life I'll look back and think, that was a great match'," said the world No.1. "Right now I don't feel good because I didn't win the match. From my side, I thought I played well. I missed too many chances in the first couple of sets, but Rafa played really well. I'm happy that we lived up to expectations and I'm happy with the way I fought."

Federer has now lost to Nadal in their last four meetings and only managed to take four games off him in the French Open final last month. He praised the form of the Spaniard in claiming his first Wimbledon title.

"Rafa played great. He came up with some unbelievable passing shots when he needed to. On other break points I played poorly, but Rafa keeps you thinking and that's what the best players do to each other in the end. He was rock solid, the way we know him. He's definitely improved his game. Since the beginning of the year he has been playing very consistently. I don't think he really needed a match like this to prove himself, but for some only trophies count. He's a great competitor and I think he did very well."

Federer lost 11 break points out of the first 12 and struggled to come to terms with the windy conditions on Centre Court. "I wasn't happy with the way I was playing break points early on. I was definitely struggling in the wind a little bit. It was tough conditions."