"I couldn't play without anesthesia" - Rafael Nadal on Wimbledon 2008 final vs Roger Federer

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has established himself as the King of Clay, with 12 French Open titles to his name. But the left-handed Spaniard has also been successful on grass, having won Wimbledon twice in his career. Nadal's maiden triumph at SW19 occurred 12 years ago, when he beat Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 in a finale that lasted for 4 hours and 48 minutes.

In a recent interview with Movistar, Rafael Nadal disclosed that he had to play with anesthesia during the 2008 final because his foot injury had gotten too uncomfortable. On top of that, the rain that constantly disrupted the match made matters even worse for the Spaniard.

However, the Mallorca-based player overcome all of those obstacles to finally dethrone Roger Federer.

"No lo he contado nunca, pero en la final de Wimbledon de 2008 tuve que jugar con el pie dormido desde el comienzo del partido" 'Nadal visto por Nadal', mañana a las 22:00h en #Vamos. pic.twitter.com/ETTNUzSvzr

— Movistar+ (@MovistarPlus) July 2, 2020

I couldn't control my foot during Wimbledon final against Roger Federer: Rafael Nadal

The Wimbledon 2008 final between Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer is widely considered the greatest match ever

Talking about his fitness issues during the epic clash against Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal mentioned that his injured leg and the weather conditions made it very challenging for him to battle his rival.

"I had to play with an injured leg for several matches. I couldn't play without anesthesia then, because I couldn't control my foot. The rain had further complicated the situation," Nadal revealed.

Rafael Nadal was high on confidence heading into Wimbledon that year, as he had secured his fourth consecutive French Open title with a crushing win over the Swiss great. The Spanish player was seeded second at SW19, with Roger Federer being the top seed.

Nadal made it to the final after dropping just one set along the way. He defeated the likes of Ernests Gulbis, Nicolas Keifer, Mikhail Youzhny, Andy Murray and Rainer Schuttler convincingly to set up a showdown against Roger Federer, who was in brilliant form himself.

Gulbis was the only player who took a set off Rafael Nadal before the Wimbledon 2008 final.

🎾 Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hit 149 winners between them in their epic 2008 Wimbledon final.👌 And the best two happened in consecutive points of an epic fourth set tiebreak...pic.twitter.com/XLpvVMWC5A

— Sporting Life (@SportingLife) June 29, 2020

Federer had won the past five Wimbledon Championships, and hence was the favorite to defeat Nadal. However, the Spaniard continued his dominance over the Swiss maestro, winning the first two sets. The defending champ then took a 5-4 lead in the third set before a rain interruption.

When play resumed, the top seed won the third set to get back into the match. In the fourth set tie-breaker Nadal was two points away from the win at 5-2, but a double fault and a perfect backhand from Federer gave the Swiss player a window to come back.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer completed the match under a dark sky

Another rain interruption delayed the game by 30 minutes, and this time when they returned Federer came to within two points from retaining his crown. But as play went on under the dark sky, Nadal bounced back and won the next game to seal the final set 9-7.

The fact that Rafael Nadal played such an epic, marathon match while dealing with severe injury problems is yet another indication of the greatness of the 19-time Grand Slam winner.