Final suspended after rain

8:40pm Sunday 6th July 2008

Play was suspended at Wimbledon tonight with the men's final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal poised on a knife edge.

Just after 7.50pm this evening, with the scores tied at 2-2 in the fifth set, the rain returned to interrupt the showpiece occasion for a second time.

The poor weather in SW19 had also caused the start of the match to be delayed by around half an hour.

Once the match got under way, there was a clear spell before dark clouds began to circle Centre Court, and finally rain began to fall with the score at 5-4 to Federer in the third set, but with Nadal two sets to love ahead in the match.

The players returned after a just over an hour off court and Federer fought back to win two tie-breaks and force the match into a decisive fifth set.

Federer was aiming to set a modern-era record of six consecutive men's singles titles, while Nadal was trying to become the first man since Bjorn Borg 28 years ago to hold the French Open and Wimbledon titles simultaneously.