This years Wimbledon surely did not disappoint. It wasn't the Federer-Nadal final we all expected to see ever since Nadal defeated Federer in an amazing final a year ago today, but it truely was amazing in its own way.
This past weekend's Wimbledon final between no. 2 Roger Federer and no. 6 Andy Roddick showed us what true champions are made of. Just watching them go back and forth in the final set shows how much each of them really wanted this title. It finally took 30 games in the fifth set to declare Federer the champion winning it 16-14.
Both of these athletes had much to play for this year. Of course with no. 1 Rafael Nadal out out of the tournament (Knee tendinitis) the trophy was just that much closer. Both of them enjoy playing on Wimbledon's grass court with Roddick reaching the finals there several times and Federer winning Wimbledon 5 consecutive times from 2003-2007.
Roddick who perhaps is playing the best tennis since he won the U.S. Open in 2003 has never defeated Federer in a grand slam final while Federer has defeated Roddick at Wimbledon in the finals in 2004 and 2005 and also at the U.S. Open final in 2006.
Going into the French open this year, Federer was just one championship short of tying Pete Sampras' record of 14 major titles. After being defeated by Nadal at Wimbledon last year and having his heart broken while being left in tears at this year's Australian Open, also at the hands of Nadal, who in the process took Federers title of no. 1 in the world, left many of us wondering if he would ever break the record.
With Nadal going out in the fourth round of the French, all the pressure was on Federer. With Nadal out, Federer was clearly the favorite to win. Federer did not disappoint, winning his first ever French open and tying Sampras' record.
Then came Wimbledon. With Nadal out, this was Federer's time to make history.
He made it easily to the finals only dropping a few sets along the way. Then came the finals match against America's hero, Andy Roddick.
Roddick started off in command winning the first set. Federer then struck back by winning the second and third sets. Facing elimination, Roddick came back to force a fifth and final set. Having to win by two games, neither of these players refused to go down without a fight. This all led to a finals record 16-14 set win for Federer.
Federer had finally broken the record. After losing two straight finals to Nadal and possibly hope of ever achieving something as great as this, Federer is now at the top with 15 career grand slam titles.
Federer has now passed some of the greats like Pete Sampras, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg, whom by the way, were there watching him from the Royal Box.
So what does this mean for Federer? It means he is now at the top. No more discussions about if he is the best. When he tied Sampras, he was questioned whether he was the best. He's now past Sampras and he'll only be 28 years old next month. Sampras won his 14Th in 2002 when he was 31 years old.
Another great thing that happened this past weekend was the reemergence of another young superstar. Roddick, who has been known recently for falling early in grand slams to other players who are almost nobodies, showed great dedication this tournament making it to the final for the first time since 2005, when he also lost to Federer.
Roddick had an impressive five set win in the quarterfinals against Lleyton Hewitt, who won Wimbledon in 2002. Roddick then stunned everyone when he eliminated Britain's own Andy Murry in the semifinals. Murry was the hometown player and England has been waiting for one of their own to conquer Wimbledon since Fred Perry back in 1936. Roddick defeated Murry in four sets against a crowd of 15,000 who hoped it would have ended differently.
Roddick then took Federer all the way to five sets. His loss at the 2004 Wimbledon Final against Federer went four sets, and in 2005, only went three.
It wasn't the fact that Roddick had taken Federer to five sets that was so impressive. It was the way the fifth set played out. Roddick was down most of the set but always found a way to come back. Roger would win a set and then Roddick would come back and tie it. This occured all the way until Federer finally finished him off 16-14.
Roddick's serves were too powerful for Federer to return, going over 130 mph. Roddick also finally decided to play some defense, something he has been criticized over the past couple of years. If you have ever seen Federer play, you know it takes great defense to keep up. But as well as his defense and his serves might have been, the great ones always know how to finish it off.
Federer now has his 15th title, as well as his no. 1 world ranking back. He did it in his favorite place to play, he did it amongst the greats and things are only looking up for Federer. He will be a father in a few months, and the next major is the U.S. open, which federer has won every year since 2004.
Will Federer win the U.S. Open? Clearly, all the presure to break the record is off. Nadal still might not be 100 percent, neither might Roddick who injured his hip flexor in the loss on Sunday. So to me, the answer is yes.
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