Roger Federer once admitted the real reason he lost to Rafael Nadal in the historic Wimbledon 2008 final

There tends to be one definitive answer whenever tennis fans are asked what they consider to be the greatest match in the sport's history.

Rafael Nadal's triumph over Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final is, to most, a work of art.

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Two legends of the game at the peak of their powers battled for nearly five hours on the most historic court at the most prestigious tournament in tennis that day.

Nadal emerged victorious in five sets to capture his first Wimbledon title, and fifth Grand Slam crown overall.

His victory ended Federer's incredible winning streak at the All England Club that dated back to 2003, with the Swiss being denied a sixth consecutive title at the grass-court major.

Roger Federer's reaction after the 2017 Shanghai Masters final

While Federer was the world number one at that point, Nadal had dominated in the early stages of their rivalry, winning 12 of their first 18 clashes.

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It wasn't until 2017 that Federer managed to win five matches in a row against Nadal for the first time; a feat he completed at the Shanghai Masters.

Federer beat Nadal in straight sets at the final of the ATP 1000 event that year, and was asked after the win why he thought he was having more luck over the eventual 22-time major champion compared to years gone by.

In his press conference, Federer replied: "I think I'm maybe serving consistently better, you know. I get easier power ever since I switched to the bigger racquet, the RF97. I feel I'm connecting better on the backhand and I'm serving good, and that consistently.

"Before I had to slice more just because the racquet was good for the slice, and it was good for the coming over, but I would always shank too many balls, you know. So I think it was hard for me to consistently just keep on attacking with the backhand.

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"Today it seems almost not a problem anymore to do it. Plus I have done it in many other matches other than Rafa, you know. I return usually coming over and sometimes using the slice; whereas before it was always a slice normally and sometimes coming over.

"So because I have gotten used to returning that way, I think it's also easier to play Rafa these days, and I just think I'm not so scarred like maybe I have been in the past, not that I was horribly scarred in any way, but I did lose against him sometimes, a lot of the times especially on the clay courts.

"I still do believe I lost that Wimbledon final in '08 because of the French Open beatdown he gave me. It just affected my first two sets when I played him at Wimbledon. Down 6-4, 6-4, and okay, I got lucky to win the third, but maybe if I don't lose both first sets it might be a different match."

Rafael Nadal's last win over Roger Federer

Federer's five-match winning streak over Nadal started in the 2015 Basel final, where he triumphed in three sets.

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He then defeated Nadal in an iconic Grand Slam final at the 2017 Australian Open, which went five sets.

In Federer's next three wins against Nadal in Indian Wells, Miami and Shanghai, he did not drop a set.

All of those matches were played on hard court, but Nadal finally snapped the losing streak when they met on his preferred surface of clay at the 2019 French Open.

Nadal dominated Federer in straight sets in the semifinals of Roland Garros that year, which marked his last win in their head-to-head.

The last match in the rivalry came in the 2019 Wimbledon semifinals, and was won by Federer.

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