John McEnroe said Nadal’s 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 9-7 victory was the best match he had ever seen and that included his 1980 final against Bjorn Borg, which entranced tennis fans across the globe.

Federer said: “It’s up to the fans to judge whether it was the best ever. I’m happy we put in a great effort.

“It was a fair battle, which was tough with the rain delays. There were some great points and I think we both stayed tough until the very end.

“In tennis unfortunately there have to be winners and losers, there are no draws. But it was probably my hardest loss by far. It doesn’t get much harder than this.”

The match was the longest ever Wimbledon final at four hours and 48 minutes with the action ending at 9.16pm in the gloaming after a truly gladiatorial battle, which saw Federer claw his way back from two sets down to win two tense tie-breaks in a match punctuated by two rain breaks that only added to the suspense.

The Wimbledon scoreboard was shining brightly in the gloom when Nadal finally broke the Federer serve in the 15th game of the final set and then served out for a victory that shifts the balance of power in world tennis.

It is the first time since Bjorn Borg in 1980 a player has won the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year and Nadal joins Borg, Rod Laver, Mats Wilander and Andre Agassi as the only players to have won grand slams on clay and grass in the Open era.

Nadal, who has four French Open titles, said: “I am very happy to have a title here at Wimbledon. When I was a kid I dreamed of playing here but to win here is unbelievable. The Spanish do not have a lot of titles here.

“I don’t want to compare the grand slams but Wimbledon is special for everybody. It is more of a surprise for me to win here than the French.

“For me it is emotional and probably the best match (I have played). It was the final of Wimbledon and I had to fight all the time.”

Both players believed the match would have been halted in the fading light if it had gone to one more game.

Nadal said: “In the last game I could see nothing. It was unbelievable.”

Meanwhile, Federer said: “I would have said something if I’d broken back to eight-all. It would have been brutal for the fans and us to come back but it was rough on me to lose the biggest tournament in the world because of the light.

“It was not a whole lot of fun, but that’s the way it is. It’s over, what’s the point in arguing about it?”

The five-times champion will now find his number one ranking under threat, and he added: “I wasn’t able to break him in the last three sets but still I managed to push him right to the edge.

“Probably later on in life I’ll go ’That was a great match.’ I’m happy the way I fought. That’s all I could really do.”