Epic win for record-setting Federer
When defending champ Rafael Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon with injury, the tennis world was heavily disappointed. So many were looking for yet another epic match between Rafa and Roger Federer; last year’s grandiose 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 victory for the Spaniard has been labelled the greatest tennis match ever. And that was a follow-up to another brilliant 5-setter the previous year, and the pair also had yet another at Australia in January of this very season.
The secondary hope for a great final rested with Andy Murray, the great UK hope and now world #3, who holds a 6-2 head-to-head against Federer. It was thought he had a nearly clear path to the final, but world #6 Andy Roddick played him brilliantly for his third crack at a Wimbledon final against The Mighty Fed (Andy lost this same matchup in 2004 and 2005). Most gave him virtually no chance, expecting him to get perhaps one set at best.
Instead, the world was treated to yet another epic battle that didn’t end until 16-14 in the fifth (the most amount of fifth set games in Grand Slam history), as Roddick, playing fitter and smarter under coach Larry Stefanki, had the match of his life. In the end, it took Federer a personal best 50 aces to get the best of Andy, who didn’t drop serve until his very last service game.
Frankly, the way Murray and Roddick played here, I don’t think Rafa would have made it to this final even had he been healthy. We saw the match that needed to be played, even though no one (outside, perhaps, Roddick’s camp) expected it in advance.
The numbers for both players were staggering. Fed’s 50 aces nearly doubled Roddick’s 27. While that seems almost unthinkable, Roddick himself had more than double the amount of aces he had ever served against Federer at Wimbledon (his previous high was 13); and Federer for his part served out of his mind, considering how poorly he served in his last Grand Slam fast court final (against Nadal in Australia).
Roddick very nearly had Federer on the brink when, with a set in hand, he went up 6-2 in the second set tiebreak. But Federer played three brilliant points before Andy misplayed a high backhand volley; ultimately Roger closed out the tiebreak by scoring the last six points to even up the match 1-1.
Will this rank equal to the 2008 final? Despite the 16-14 fifth set (compared to 9-7), probably not. Last year’s match was considerably longer in actual playing time, as most of this match was a serving display. There were less points lost on serve here, and Federer-Roddick rallies – even with Roddick so improved in this area – are generally shorter than Federer-Nadal rallies. Moreover, last year’s match was between the two top-ranked players who have a longstanding epic rivalry, and it was that match which largely allowed Rafa to wrest the #1 ranking from Federer. And of course, Rafa now has six Grand Slam titles to his credit, whereas Roddick has but one (due in no small measure to having to play out his prime simultaneous to Federer’s).
Yet there was plenty at stake this time around, given that the victory pushes Federer past Pete Sampras for career Grand Slam titles (15) and past Nadal back into the #1 ranking. It’s also his sixth Wimbledon, just one shy of the record held by Sampras and William Renshaw (who won them when defense of the title meant a bye to the final awaiting the challenger).
Given that Roger is not yet 28, it seems likely that he has a few more Slam titles left in him to put distance between himself and Sampras. The latter is venturing 17-19… but wouldn’t 20 be a nice round number? 