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There will never be another scene quite like it, or another match, for that matter. Wimbledon closed down a 132-year era Sunday night with the greatest tennis match ever played.

That’s not just The Chronicle’s opinion, but the measured view of Bud Collins and a half-dozen of the most experienced tennis writers in the world, all of them in a state of stunned admiration as they sat down to address their keyboards. They held fast to the John McEnroe-Bjorn Borg legend for 28 years, and hated to give it up, but Rafael Nadal’s 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 victory over Roger Federer set the standard of brilliance.

An innovative Centre Court roof, retractable and an answer to every rainstorm, will be in place next year - and not a moment too soon. It was so dark at 9:16 p.m., the moment Federer’s netted forehand ended this match, they couldn’t have played another game. But that only adds to the magic. Bared to the skies since 1877, the fabled venue seemed to take on a mind of its own, extending the last roofless Wimbledon until the last vestiges of light.

What a scene: Nadal flat on his back after four hours and 48 minutes of glory, the longest Wimbledon final in history, made nearly two hours longer by a pair of rain delays. Nadal propelling himself into the Friends Box (leave it to Rafa to take the most difficult route) and coming out of it with a Spanish flag. Nadal walking along the roof above the TV broadcasters to reach the Spanish royalty, Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Asturias, who made the very worthwhile journey to London. And then Nadal back on the court, in a swirl of flashbulbs, to celebrate the first Wimbledon men’s victory by a Spaniard since Manuel Santana in 1966.

Even for those who have closely followed Nadal’s career, it was difficult to grasp the breadth of his accomplishment. He should have been a broken man after those two spirit-crushing tiebreakers. Time after time, on crucial points, Federer rendered him helpless with punishing aces. Federer is “the best in the history,” as Nadal put it, and once his disappointment gives way to perspective, he’ll know he hit some of the most clutch shots ever witnessed.

“It’s hard for me to appreciate it right now,” Federer said afterward. “I can’t look at it as a feel-good thing. Probably later in life, I’ll be happy about the way I fought, the way it lived up to expectations. And congratulations to Rafa, a great competitor.”

It was altogether fitting that Borg was in the stands, bundled up against the rain and chill in the Royal Box. Nadal became the first man since Borg to win the French Open and Wimbledon consecutively (Borg did it three years in a row, 1978-80). The way Nadal took down Federer, who had won the last five Wimbledons, was reminiscent of McEnroe’s brazen challenge to Borg, hastening him into an early retirement. Most relevant, though, was the comparison to Borg’s 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16), 8-6 victory over McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon final.

There’s no question that the 18-16 tiebreaker represented the most riveting episode in the sport’s history, as untouchable as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. The case for Federer-Nadal rests on its unrelenting tension, the sustained brilliance, the fact that neither man let a troubling moment get him down. Forget any notion that Nadal is “in Federer’s head,” as some observed after the French Open. Maybe that was true in Paris, but not here. Federer was simply beaten, and if you witnessed his sequence of down-the-line forehand winners - there must have been 25 of them, each more mind-blowing than the last - you wondered how that was possible.

“I only saw one case of nerves,” said Collins, of ESPN and the Boston Globe, a man who attended his first Wimbledon in 1961. “That’s when Nadal double-faulted with that 5-2 lead in the fourth-set tiebreaker. Both guys just fought and fought, not a single letdown. Losing that tiebreaker would have destroyed most guys. But not Rafa. Jesus, is he tough.”

Try to imagine putting up this five-set scoreline against Federer: 66669. That’s what it took to keep Federer and Borg tied at five straight Wimbledons. Federer closed out the third set in a blur of aces and forehands, but the fourth-set tiebreaker swung hard the other way, Nadal holding that 5-2 lead with two serves coming. His double fault was a net-cord job, trickling over but landing wide, and Federer shot him a look as if to say, “You’re giving me that now?”

The thing about Nadal, separating him from most everyone in tennis, is that he fights harder than an angry pit bull. The fact that he might have choked, in sports parlance, didn’t occur to him. He came up with such a sensational shot at 7-7, a down-the-line forehand pass on the dead run, “I really thought it was over,” Federer admitted. But that’s when Federer defined himself, answering that excruciating match-point pressure with the calmest of backhand winners, struck cleanly down the line. And as the match drew even, Federer raised the possibility of becoming the first man since Henri Cochet, in 1927, to come from two sets down to win a Wimbledon final.

Although it only stalled the inevitable, Federer hit a shot in that final game I still can’t believe. It was match point at 40-30 for Nadal, and he put a first serve exactly where he wanted it. With the casual aplomb of a gentleman pouring a glass of wine, Federer sent it whistling through the darkness with a blistering cross-court backhand winner. “No, that I cannot believe,” said Nadal, who struggled to express his feelings when he was interviewed in English. “I can’t see nothing, no?”

When it came to the next match point, advantage Nadal, the dwindling light almost demanded a conclusion. Federer sent his fateful forehand into the net, and “that was the irony of it,” Collins said. “Here’s Federer with the best forehand the sport has ever seen, and he puts a routine ball into the net. But then, that’s the story of Nadal. He always makes you hit one more shot than you want to.”

So it’s on to the retractable-roof era, a development tinged with regret. There’s nothing in sports like a compelling Centre Court match in the fresh air of southeast England, whether it’s still, blustery or damp. Recent years, though, have brought a succession of maddening rainouts and delays, softening a traditionalist’s heart. What I heard, from a tiny elf in the catacombs, is that once the roof becomes available, it will never rain again. In the wake of tennis’ greatest match, all things are possible.

Briefly: The Bryan brothers, the twins from Stanford, were on opposite sides of the net for Sunday’s mixed doubles championship match. Bob Bryan teamed with Samantha Stosur of Australia to beat top-seeded Mike Bryan and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 7-5, 6-4. It was the second time the brothers, who are ranked No. 1 in men’s doubles and have won five Grand Slam titles together, have faced each other in a major final. Six years ago, Mike paired with Lisa Raymond to defeat Bob and Srebotnik for the U.S. Open title.

On Saturday, Tiger put on a display of golf dramatics unmatched in championship history. In the span of six holes he made a hundred feet of eagle putts, pitched in from greenside rough, and hit several of the crookest drives this side of Phil Mickelson. He did all this on a gimpy left leg that has garnered only slightly less attention than Barack Obama. Using his club as a cane, pain evident on his face, he somehow charged from five strokes back into a one-shot lead. If Saturday were Sunday, the 2008 U.S. Open would be on the short list of greatest sporting events ever.

But Saturday isn’t Sunday.

When Willis Reed limped out to the Madison Square Garden floor to lead the New York Knicks in the 1970 NBA Finals, he knew it was the last game of the season. When Kirk Gibson dragged his body off the trainer’s table and hobbled to home plate before hitting his game-winning home run in 1987, it was his only at-bat of that World Series. When Michael Jordan scored 38 points against the Utah Jazz while fighting nausea and dehydration from the flu, he knew he’d have a day off before the 1997 Finals continued.

Tiger Woods knew, as he iced his post-operative knee on Saturday night, that he’d have to do it all over again, walking four-plus miles, using that sore leg to brace himself against the force of his 125-mph swing.

The round unfolded like a horror film whose director puts his most gruesome imagery in the first few moments, so the audience would be filled with dread and anticipation at every turn thereafter. Tiger opened with a drive wildly left, his discomfort obvious as he walked off the tee. His second shot from a birds-nest lie stayed in the long grass amidst the gallery, his third hit a tree and came down in the rough, his fourth failed to reach the green – was this really Tiger Woods? We’ve seen him escape from so many impossible positions through the years. Had arthroscopic kryptonite turned Tiger Woods into one of us?

His double-bogey on 1 was followed by a drive into the right rough on 2, after which he doubled over in pain. His subsequent bogey was bad, and his body language was worse. On the tees, he seemed to be looking for some shot he could hit without wincing. An anguished cry followed one effort. If it were a boxing match, and you were his trainer, you’d have thought about throwing in the towel for his own protection.

What do you do when you’re Tiger Woods on a day when you’re not Tiger Woods?

Yes, it’s golf, not mortal combat. The word “courage” should be saved for those who face peril in the real world, not in the shadow play of sports. Even in the golfing realm, this was not quite Ben Hogan at Merion in 1950, playing 36 holes in a single day with a body almost completely shattered by a car crash a year earlier. Nonetheless, anyone watching had to feel a bit of sickness in the pit of his stomach.

As the round progressed, Tiger remained unreliable off the tee, but found enough of his game to hit the kind of recovery shots we’re used to seeing. (Asked about the apparent improvement through the day, he said, “Did it get better? No. I took some things to relieve that, so I feel better now.”) He birdied 9 and 11 to take the lead, but gave back those strokes with a shockingly bad second shot into the hazard on 13 and a dreadful drive on 15. Meanwhile, Rocco Mediate was cruising along in the group ahead, chatting with the galleries, smiling, laughing, loving the moment and never veering more than one shot from par for the day.

On the 18th tee, Tiger knew he needed a birdie to tie and an eagle to win. We knew, and he knew, that putting a drive in the fairway would be challenge enough on this day. He pulled it left into a bunker, squirted his second shot into the right rough, and hit a 60-degree wedge to 14 feet. The U.S. Open title would come down to one final stroke: miss it and it’s over, make it and he’s in an 18-hole playoff on Monday when he’ll have to drag that sore knee around the course one more time.

Of course he made it. He’s Tiger Woods.

The Houston Rockets’ NBA All-Star center and China’s most recognizable athlete awoke Sunday to more bad news: a powerful aftershock had killed one person and destroyed 70,000 homes.

“Every day the number is going up. This morning it was over 62,000 people killed,” Yao said. “We are very sad for the people we have lost in the earthquake.”

Yao was at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday for the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 — one of five major stock car races in the United States, shooting hoops with stock-car drivers and getting a lesson on changing tires from a pit crew as part of a promotion with Coca-Cola. But a somber Yao was clearly focused on the devastation to his home country.

“We have a long way to go to create a new place for the people who don’t have a place to stay right now,” Yao said.

Yao, who has donated $290,000 and filmed public service television announcements through the Red Cross for the relief efforts, led the crowd in a moment of silence for China’s victims before the Coca-Cola 600.

Read Full Story At CBS Sportsline

Out front is the Weekend Buzz’s baseball report showing off some pretty good stats for the Arizona Diamondbacks here are they are if you missed them

Arizona’s aces: As in, the Diamondbacks themselves are aces with baseball’s best record at 18-7 — and the Diamondbacks’ rotation is filled with them.

Brandon Webb beat Jake Peavy 2-1 in a battle of the National League’s past two Cy Young winners in San Diego on Sunday, and now he, Danny Haren and Micah Owings are a combined 13-1 with a 2.74 ERA.

The Diamondbacks lead the majors with a 3.04 ERA and, way over there on the side, slowly emerging from his second back surgery in two years, is Randy Johnson. The Big Unit won Friday night’s series opener here, owns a 2.70 ERA after his first three outings — and all the Diamondbacks really need from him is to be a No. 4 starter.

A No. 5, perhaps, once Doug Davis returns from thyroid cancer surgery — which, according to doctors, might be anywhere from four-to-six weeks away.

Kobe Bryant will not repeat a trade request to be transfered this year from the Lakers. 24 Sports Web has learnt that Lakers all star plans to remain with the team. Last season Kobe shocked the league when he expressed his desire “to be traded” from the Lakers.

But over the weekend Mr. Bryant cleared the air by explicitly saying that he will stay with the Lakers for a long time. The superstar now appears fully content to remain a Lakers until he retires. “Yeah, I am, absolutely,” Bryant said in a comment printed in the Rocky Mountain News. “I’ve always wanted to be here. But I just felt like I was in a position before where I didn’t have a choice … My legs aren’t as young as they used to be.”

Kobe Bryant has lead the Lakers so far to 3 -0 NBA playoff lead over the Denver Nuggets.