Nadal wins Wimbledon for 2nd time

Rafael Nadal has won his second Wimbledon title in three years, blowing out upstart Tomas Berdych in straight sets on Sunday.

Nadal's 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory gave him his eighth career Grand Slam singles title. The Spaniard, who captured his fifth French Open crown last month, is now tied for sixth with Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi on the list of major winners in the Open era.

"After not an easy year for me, to be back at my favourite tournament of the world and to play well another time, and not only play well [but] to finish with the trophy, is amazing for me," Nadal said.

The 24-year-old is halfway to matching Roger Federer's all-time record of 16 Grand Slam men's singles championships.

Despite being ranked No. 1 in the world heading into Wimbledon, Nadal received the second seed out of respect for Federer's grass-court prowess. But the six-time champ fell in the quarter-finals to the 12th-seeded Berdych and will drop to No. 3 in the world when the new ATP rankings are released.

Semifinalist Novak Đjoković will knock Federer, who turns 29 next month, out of the top two for the first time since November 2003.

Nadal tightened his grip on the top spot with Sunday's bloodless victory over Berdych, a rangy Czech who was appearing in his first Grand Slam final at the age of 24.

Fortified by his semifinal appearance at the French Open, Berdych put together another impressive run at Wimbledon, dominating Federer over four sets in the quarters before upsetting Đjoković in straight sets to reach the final.

But Berdych was no match for the relentless Nadal, who held all 15 of his service games in the final. Nadal broke serve four times, the last one sealing the championship when he ripped one of his pinpoint crosscourt winners past Berdych after the Czech pushed toward the net.

Berdych hoped to benefit from his surprising appearance in the Wimbledon final.

"I hope it gives me a lot of confidence … to be stronger for next time," said Berdych, who later mentioned he was bothered by an abdominal muscle injury.

Nadal might have been celebrating a third straight Wimbledon title if not for the knee problems that forced him to skip last year's tournament, an experience he called "one of the toughest moments in my career" after Sunday's victory.

Seemingly free of the tendinitis that plagued him for much of 2009, Nadal will take another shot at completing the career Grand Slam at the U.S. Open in August. His inability to win the New York tournament has been an attacking point for critics who hypothesize that Nadal's all-out playing style leaves him drained by the time the season's final major rolls around.

"For sure the U.S. Open is going to be one of my goals for the rest of my career," Nadal said. "But right now [my goal] is to enjoy the beach, fishing, golf, friends, party, and Mallorca."