2012 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles final to avoid being the first male player since his coach Ivan Lendl to lose his first four finals. The 2012 Wimbledon Men's Singles final was the third Grand Slam final that Federer and Murray had contested. Federer had won both previous finals, at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open. Since Federer's victory at the 2010 Australian Open, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had combined to win nine consecutive major tournaments, and had competed head-to-head in the last four consecutive finals. Nadal, however, had suffered a second round defeat to world no. 100 Lukas Rosol. Federer, on the
2008 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles final Wimbledon in terms of time played, and was the longest in any Grand Slam Final until the 2012 Australian Open final. By winning the match, Nadal achieved the rare French Open–Wimbledon double, joining Rod Laver and Björn Borg as the only men to do so in the Open Era. Federer achieved the same feat the following year. Nadal won the double again in 2010. Two months later, in August, Nadal finally overtook Federer in the ATP Rankings, on which Federer had reigned as world no. 1 for a record 237 consecutive weeks. Many tennis analysts wondered whether this was the