In a well-played battle that was capped by a 16-14 marathon fifth set in today's Wimbledon final, Roger Federer endured everything Andy Roddick could throw at him to claim his record fifteenth Slam singles crown. I have never seen the American play better, repeatedly serving his way out of trouble and using his improved backhand to craft improbable winners. I was pulling for Andy; he has worked hard to raise his game to a new level and surely deserves to have more than one major to his credit at this point in his career--and no doubt would have a handful at least, but for the fact that Federer and Nadal play in the same era.
It looked like Andy was crushed after the match. It's understandable: he served with a 5-2 lead in the second-set tiebreak and choked on a sitter backhand volley at 6-5 in the same 'breaker to allow Federer back into the match. And yet, Roddick dug deep, never losing serve, and breaking the Swiss star to take the fourth set. Federer erased two break points early in the fifth before the war of attrition unfolded past the six-all mark. In the clutch, Roger served superbly, firing aces seemingly at will in the late going. I could see Andy starting to struggle a bit, missing first serves and getting pushed to deuce games. You give a player like Federer enough chances and he will capitalize.
Though I was disappointed Roddick lost, it was pretty cool to see Roger extend his very impressive record of consistency in the majors. And having Borg, Laver, and Sampras there to greet him back in the clubhouse after the trophy presentation was a truly awesome sight.
I thought with Nadal out of action this year, this tournament would be a lot less interesting. Rafa was missed, but there was no shortage of excitement, especially in today's final.
