Roger Federer was playing for history.
Andy Roddick was playing the match of his life.
On and on they dueled, Federer trying for a record-breaking 15th
major championship, Roddick striving for his second, in a Wimbledon
final that required more games than any Grand Slam title match in
the considerable annals of a sport dating to the 1800s.
"Ten games all, final set," intoned the chair umpire. Then,
"Twelve games all, final set." And, still later, "Fourteen games
all, final set."
They were each other's equal for four full sets and nearly the
entire 30-game fifth set. Until Federer, far more experienced in
such matters, finally edged ahead, breaking Roddick's serve for the
only time in the 77th and last game to close out a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6
(5), 3-6, 16-14 victory Sunday.
The epic match - the fifth set alone lasted more than 1{ hours -
gave Federer his sixth Wimbledon title. Add that to five from the
U.S. Open, three from the Australian Open and one from the French
Open, and Federer's Grand Slam total rises to 15, one more than Pete
Sampras, who flew in from California on Sunday morning to be on
hand.
"He's a legend," Sampras said. "Now he's an icon."
Indeed, Sampras already was among those labeling Federer the
greatest tennis player ever, and there's no doubt the 27-year-old
from Switzerland keeps bolstering his case.
"It's not really one of those goals you set as a little boy,"
Federer told the Centre Court crowd during the trophy ceremony,
"but, man, it's been quite a career. And quite a month."
Federer won the French Open four Sundays earlier to complete a
career Grand Slam and tie Sampras with 14 major titles (Margaret
Smith Court owns the women's record of 24).
"Sorry, Pete," Roddick said. "I tried to hold him off."
He weathered Federer's career-high 50 aces and his 107 total
winners in the longest match and longest fifth set in major final
history, topping marks set in 1927.
The tennis gods - as well as Sampras, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg,
all in front-row seats - must have enjoyed every moment of the
4-hour, 16-minute tussle. Federer, who can make it all look so easy,
was forced to work darned hard to eclipse Sampras' mark, and Roddick
was left heartbreakingly close to finally winning Wimbledon.
Roddick dropped to 0-3 in finals at the All England Club, also
beaten by Federer in 2004 and 2005. After the match ended on a
shanked forehand by the sixth-seeded American, the two men hugged at
the net. A mere handshake wouldn't do.
The winner donned a specially tailored white jacket with a gold
"15" stitched on the back, while the loser - a word that hardly
seems fair in this case - slumped in his chair, head bowed, until
rising to acknowledge the spectators' chorus of "Rodd-ick!
Rodd-ick!"
"Sports, or tennis, is cruel sometimes. We know it," Federer
said. "I went through some five-setters in Grand Slam finals, too,
and ended up losing. It's hard."
A year ago, on the same lawn, Federer's five-year reign as
Wimbledon champion ended in a 9-7 fifth set defeat against his
nemesis, Rafael Nadal. Six weeks later, Federer relinquished to
Nadal the No. 1 ranking after a record 237 consecutive weeks at the
top.
But Nadal did not defend his Wimbledon title, citing sore knees,
and Federer not only regained his championship at the All England
Club - the Grand Slam he says means the most to him - but returns to
No. 1 Monday.
"It's staggering that I've been able to play so well for so many
years now and stay injury-free," Federer said. "I knew what it
took to win the big ones. ... It's crazy that I've been able to win
so many in such a short period of time."
Sampras - whose 14th major title came in his last match, at age
31, at the 2002 U.S. Open - and his wife appeared in the Royal Box
during the changeover after Sunday's third game. Walking to the
baseline directly below, Federer acknowledged Sampras with a nod of
the head and a little wave.
"I thought, 'I don't want to be rude,' you know?" Federer said.
