If there was a sliver of hope that Rafael Nadal was the piratical plunderer who would sneak into the palace and drive the monarch away, then it was a hope that had the briefest of flickers in the men's final of the 120th championships before His Majesty drove the intruder away with as much effort as it would take to swat a fly.

Federer's 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3 defeat of the second-seeded Spaniard saw him take a giant step towards sporting immortality. He became only the third player in the Open era to win four titles in a row — Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras are the other two. Federer, still only 24, now has eight Grand Slam titles in his trophy shelf.

In a match that turned out to be a lot more entertaining than seemed possible at the start, the champion survived Nadal's third set fightback and quickly turned things around in the fourth.

Delaying the inevitable

With two breaks in the set, Federer was right on top, serving for the championship at 5-1. But a pair of mishits and a pumped up Nadal only postponed the inevitable as the great man dealt with the high-wire moment like a champion, serving out the match on the second opportunity.

"It is fantastic. I never thought this is possible," said Federer. "It is a great tournament for Rafael. I honestly didn't think he would be in the final. Fantastic effort. I was getting awfully nervous in the end."

Nadal went into the final with an impressive serving record. He had not lost serve since the second set of his second round match against the American qualifier Robert Kendrick — 15 sets won without ever losing serve.

But then, Nadal had not met anyone who plays at Federer's customary altitude on grass. Yet, it must have come as a huge shock for the Spaniard's camp when Federer raced through the first set, breaking Nadal three times in succession.

After holding serve 80 games in a row, that must have been hard to take for Nadal. But, the 20-year old is such a great fighter that he figured a way to get back into the contest, breaking Federer's serve in the opening game of the second set. The muscular Spaniard earned himself the opportunity with a blistering backhand pass and the champion's mishit forehand handed Nadal the early advantage.

Turning point

Then, just when it appeared that Nadal was in firm control of the set and the momentum was with him, the two-time French Open champion played a poor service game when serving for the set. A double fault from the Spaniard gave Federer an opening, but it was Nadal himself who presented the gift with a forehand aimed at the stands.

What is more, in the tiebreak, Nadal found an early mini-break with a backhand pass but, once again, after having got his nose ahead, lost his way. Federer won five points in a row to go up 6-3, allowed the Spaniard two on his own serve, and then closed out the tiebreak.

A lesser competitor would have thrown in the towel at that point. But Nadal is made in the Jimmy Connors mould. He sees light where others might see nothing but darkness. He is the sort of guy who'd cheerfully make holiday plans from what might appear to you like deathbed.

As it turned out, Nadal didn't give an inch in his service games in the third set before taking control of the tiebreak early. This time, there were no mistakes as Nadal won five points in a row from 2-2 and let out a war cry.

The last man to take a set from the Swiss maestro here was Nicolas Kiefer in the third round of the 2005 championships.

Ram-Zvonareva pair triumphs

AP reports:

Meanwhile on Saturday, Andy Ram of Israel and Russia's Vera Zvonareva won the mixed doubles title, beating Venus Williams and Bob Bryan of the United States, 6-3, 6-2.

It was Ram's first Grand Slam title. Zvonareva had won the U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan in 2004.

The ninth-seeded pair won their semifinal match earlier on Saturday, beating No. 3 Wayne and Cara Black of Zimbabwe 6-3, 7-6(5).

Williams' loss came a week after she was beaten in the third round of the women's singles. She was the defending champion.

Bob Bryan teamed with twin brother Mike to win the men's doubles title earlier Saturday, completing a career Grand Slam.

Bob Bryan and Williams nearly didn't become partners.

Mike Bryan said Williams sent a text message to his brother before Wimbledon, and that Bob Bryan was originally planning to play with Martina Navratilova "but they weren't communicating too well."

"Martina thought she was playing with Bob," Mike Bryan said. "Bob thought she (Navratilova) was playing with Leander (Paes). It kind of all got messed up. ... I don't think Martina was too happy for a few days."

Navratilova and her partner, Mark Knowles of the Bahamas, were beaten in the third round by Ram and Zvonareva.

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