Rafael Nadal stands on the verge of becoming the world's top tennis player even if yesterday's rankings showed he was still No2.
Regardless of the computer reading, Nadal stamped his supremacy over Roger Federer when he ended his Swiss rival's five-year Wimbledon reign on Sunday night in a heartstopping five-set thriller.
In addition to snatching the All England Club crown, the Spaniard also snapped Federer's record streak of 65 wins on grass.
Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker said, ''Whoever wins the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year for me is the No1 in the world. The computer just didn't get it yet.''
Nadal became the first man to pull off the feat since Bjorn Borg in 1980.
With Federer's All England Club defeat coming quickly on the heels of his humiliating loss in the French Open final, where a rampaging Nadal allowed him to pocket just four games, the Swiss's hold on the top ranking looks extremely precarious.
Federer has led the rankings for a record 232 consecutive weeks, and Nadal has been second for a record 155.
If the computer does not reflect what everyone else can see, its authenticity could soon be questioned, especially since Nadal's haul of six titles in 2008 includes two Grand Slam events and two Masters Series events.
Federer, by comparison, has won two low-key events, but still leads his Spanish tormentor by 545 points in the ATP standings.
For a man who had won 12 Grand Slam titles in the space of just five years, Federer has had to contend with some serious setbacks in 2008.
Recovering from a bout of glandular fever, he was forced to relinquish his Australian Open crown to Serbia's Novak Djokovic in January and then suffered his Paris nightmare.
But nothing will hurt him as much as losing his cherished Wimbledon crown.
''In tennis, unfortunately sometimes there have to be winners and losers: there's no draws,'' the 26-year-old said.
''This is my hardest loss, by far. This is a disaster. Paris was nothing in comparison.''
Federer will now be looking to salvage his season with victory at the Beijing Olympics and at the US Open.
Being part of a match described by John McEnroe as ''the greatest we have ever seen'' provided little consolation as the Federer-Nadal rivalry came of age.
They had met 17 times before, but none of their previous encounters could match the drama, intensity and cliffhanger ending of the epic over four hours and 48 minutes witnessed by almost 15,000 fans lucky enough to hold Centre Court tickets.
Their rivalry has already surpassed that between Borg and McEnroe. The ice-cool Swede and fiery American's paths crossed only 14 times before Borg quit.
With Nadal still only 22 and Federer a month shy of his 27th birthday, they should have plenty more meetings ahead of them.
Sunday's showpiece was their sixth Grand Slam final, already more than between any other pair of men since tennis went professional in 1968.
Nadal has the upper hand as he now leads their head-to-head slate 12-6.
On the eve of the Wimbledon final, Federer said, ''I think it's quite incredible actually that we've played each other so many times on big occasions.
''We want a piece of each world, you know, but the other person hasn't given in yet. I think it's a great rivalry.''
Nadal has pulled out of his title defence in Stuttgart this week. ''I haven't stopped playing for the past four to five months,'' he said yesterday.Reuters
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