Until yesterday, I hadn’t watched more than a few minutes of a men’s tennis match since the days of Borris Becker and Michael Chang.

Somewhere along the way, men’s tennis lost all of its appeal for me — there were no real compelling rivalries, and no real compelling players to hold my interest (Pete Sampras might have been a player for the ages, but I found watching him play against the competition of his time to be utterly boring).

But all of that changed yesterday watching Roger Federer defeat Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final:

Untouchable early, steady enough late, the No. 1-ranked Federer did indeed vanquish his nemesis, No. 2 Nadal, 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (2), 6-3 Sunday for a fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship and eighth Grand Slam title.

Federer is 55-0 this year when he plays anyone other than Nadal. But the Swiss star entered Sunday with a 1-6 career mark against Nadal, 0-4 this season, when all four losses came in tournament finals, including at last month’s French Open.

The tennis I watched yesterday was amazing — the athletisicm and shot-making ability of these two players was mesmerizing. And apparently they have created one of the most interesting and intense rivalries in sport.

I’ve been a fan of women’s tennis for quite some time now…but thanks to Roger and Rafael, I now have a reason to watch men’s tennis again.