At Last, Federer Reaches Summit

By Liz Clarke

The Washington Post

July 06, 2009

WIMBLEDON, England, July 5 -- It was a day for making history.

Roger Federer won his sixth Wimbledon title in the last seven years Sunday, turning back a resilient Andy Roddick, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14, and setting two records in the process.

It was the longest Grand Slam final in history, capped by a fifth set that lasted 95 minutes -- seven minutes longer than Saturday's women's final.

And with his idol Pete Sampras looking on, Federer broke his tie with the former great and moved into a class of his own as holder of a record 15 major titles.

'I know how much the record means to him, and he knows how much the record means to me,' Federer said afterward, thanking the seven-time champion for flying in from California for the occasion. 'In a way I still feel like we share it, just because he was such a wonderful champion.'

Federer hailed a teary-eyed Roddick as 'an unbelievable guy' and unbelievable player during his post-match remarks and urged him not to lose faith that he would win Wimbledon one day.

'Today, I was on the lucky side,' said Federer, who finished with 107 winners and 50 aces.

And Roddick bore his disappointment admirably, telling the capacity crowd of 15,000 who honored him with a standing ovation, 'I'm one of the lucky few that gets cheered for.'

Then he turned and apologized to Sampras, half in jest, for not being able to keep the Swiss from overtaking his record. 'I tried to hold him off,' Roddick said.

And he spoke of the honor he felt in playing tennis in front of such great champions as Sampras, Manuel Santana, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg, who sat shoulder to shoulder in the front row of the Royal Box.

'I hope one day my name will be up there with theirs,' Roddick said.

Wimbledon opened this year on a down note because of the last-minute, injury-related withdrawal of defending champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated Federer in a five-set final that many hailed as the greatest match in history.

Sunday's final proved its equal, though few suspected Roddick, who had lost to Federer in three previous Grand Slam finals, could mount a worthy fight.

Roddick was tested mightily from the opening set, in which he turned back four break points, but used masterful serving to take an early lead.

The second set was a mirror of the first, only closer, with each player holding serve to force a tiebreak. Roddick got the early break and had a cushion of four set points to take a commanding, two sets-to-none lead.

But Federer reeled off the next six points to draw even at one set each and celebrated with a defiant roar.

Roddick sloughed off the disappointment and played on with no dip in his play or temperament.

'At that point, like everything else, there's two options: You lay down or you keep going,' Roddick said later. 'The second option sounded better to me.'

Two hours into the match, it was dead even at one set each and 6-6. Another tiebreak was needed. Roddick was coaxed into the critical error by a short ball from Federer, replying with a one-handed backhand that landed in the net.

That put Federer up two sets to one, even though the Swiss hadn't yet broken Roddick's serve.

Roddick got an early break in the fourth set and drew even at two sets each, shaking off what looked like a nasty injury when he lunged awkwardly for a ball with his right foot extended.

By then, shadows had started their march across the court. And there was no telling how long the match would go, with neither player able to break serve and tiebreaks not allowed at Wimbledon in decisive fifth sets.

It was a matter of whose nerves would fray first.

The match passed four hours with Federer leading, 13-12.

Still, they played on. Federer held serve with relative ease, while Roddick's game started showing patches of vulnerability -- a minor gaffe here, followed by an ace there.

'Each time it was just a point, and then another one and then another one,' Roddick said when asked how he kept his focus while serving from a deficit so many times.

But after clanging one last ball off his frame to end the match, Roddick wasted no time trotting to the net to congratulate his rival.

'He gets a lot of credit for a lot of things, but not a lot of the time is how many matches he kind of digs deep and toughs out,' Roddick said of Federer. 'He doesn't get a lot of credit for that because it looks so easy. But he definitely stuck in there today.'

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