The scary thing about Nadal? Every part of his game is improving

Three quick thoughts on the men's final at Wimbledon on Sunday:

• The new tennis is 6-foot-5. The new tennis has a bludgeoning forehand and employs the latest in slam-bang technology. The new tennis beats Roger Federer. But the new tennis has no answer to a healthy, relentless Rafael Nadal. His 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Tomas Berdych was a masterpiece of all-court play, equal parts power, finesse and panache.

Berdych's forehand is a force of nature, but when Nadal got his first service break, for a 4-3 lead in the first, he sprinted to his left to return that shot with a running, down-the-line forehand winner of his own. If Berdych hoped to stall the inevitable as the third set began, Nadal shot him down with one of those ridiculous cross-court backhand winners on the run. John McEnroe, among many others, was blown away as he watched from the NBC booth. And the final flourish -- Nadal's cross-court forehand winner with Berdych standing hopelessly at the net -- was vintage Rafa.

• What sets Nadal apart is the constant evolution of his game. Every aspect of it is improving, especially at the net, where his elegant backhand volley gave him a 4-3 lead in the second set. Perhaps most importantly, he doesn't treat the backhand as a single, machine-like entity. The two-hander speaks for itself, but Nadal has become particularly adept with the one-handed slice, particularly when he's returning those first-serve bombs from the likes of Berdych and Robin Soderling. It's good to know that variety and ingenuity still have meaning in this game.

• As he fights to restore his dominance, Federer has two problems: The big hitters, who clearly give him problems, and Nadal, who played with such utter abandon over the semifinals and finals, erasing any notion that his knees are a concern. Imagine having to fight through the new-tennis assassins in a tournament and then drawing Nadal, looking as fresh as a man coming off a long vacation.

That's a daunting prospect, and with eight major titles, Nadal suddenly has a legitimate place among the all-time greats: one more than John McEnroe, as many as Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors. At a time when its popularity is sagging, tennis badly needs this conversation.