Sometimes the bare facts are enough. Roger Federer beat Andy Roddick 5-7 7-6 7-6 3-6 16-14 to win a record-breaking 15th grand slam title and, in doing so, Pete Sampras’s tally of major trophies to become, in the eyes of most observers, the greatest player tennis has ever known.
One of the world’s most learned and thoughtful sportswriters, Jon L. Wertheim, recently wrote a book about last year’s Wimbledon final and called it “Strokes of Genius”. If Wertheim writes a sequel about this year’s titanic struggle then he might have to call it “Strokes, Strokes and more Strokes”. The fifth set alone was the longest fifth set of any men’s final ever played at Wimbledon and overall it was, by some margin, longer in games than Federer’s 2008 battle with Rafael Nadal.
In the tingling excitement which lingered after Federer versus Nadal this time last year, it was hard to conceive that another men’s final at Wimbledon could ever come close to matching it for tension and competitiveness. It took just a year for The Championships to see another epic. The quality might not have been quite as high throughout as the final circa 2008 but for sheer, protracted drama is will take some beating. Even if it had not been such an astonishing final, it would have been memorable for being the moment when Federer won his sixth Wimbledon title and his 15th grand slam trophy. He did so in front of a stellar line-up of champions, including Sampras, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg.
“It was tremendous. I have to give it to him. The guy’s a legend, an icon. In my book he’s the greatest,” said Sampras afterwards. Federer’s achievement is all the more impressive for the speed with which he has overtaken the American: Sampras took 12 years to amass 14 grand slam titles. Federer has got 15 in just six years and, according to Sampras, will notch up more before he retires. Federer is not yet 28 and though he is now a married man and about to become a father for the first time – the baby is due within a month so pity his poor wife Mirka fretting in the Players’ Box – he shows no signs of his ambition dimming.
Federer made mention in his chat with Sue Barker afterwards of the absent Nadal, who pulled out before the tournament with sore knees, whose No.1 ranking the Swiss will take when the new standings are released on Monday. There were those who wrote Federer off when he lost to Nadal in the Australian Open final at the start of this year, when it looked as though he might be faltering within sight of his dream. Instead he has stepped up at the moment of most pressure, which he is why he is, in that oft-used phrase, a truly great champion.
Well done, by the way, to Great Britain’s Daniel Cox, who clearly did an excellent job of helping Federer warm up for the final on Sunday morning after receiving a late night call from LTA Head Coach of Men’s Tennis Paul Annacone asking if he was available. Fortunately Cox had a window in his diary so that he could play a small part in the making of history.