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Federer Stands Alone
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(AP Photo/Al Behrman)
For anyone who spent any amount of time watching today's epic Wimbledon men's singles final contested by 5 time champion and world #2 Roger Federer and top ranked American Andy Roddick, it surely had to go down in the books as one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) tennis matches ever witnessed. After battling for what amounted to six and a half sets of tennis over a span of four and a half hours, Federer finally prevailed 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 to take home his 6th Wimbledon crown. The score however was only part of the story.
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Hard to believe that after last year's final where Rafael Nadal wrested the title from Federer 9-7 in the 5th set as the very last ray of the day's sunlight faded into darkness that their epic encounter could ever be upstaged, today's spectacle on center court managed do exactly that. On one side of the net you had Andy Roddick, fresh off playing the match of his life in taking down hometown favorite Andy Murray in 4 wildly entertaining sets, and on the other side stood the man himself playing in his 7th straight Wimbledon final and seeking to claim his record setting 15th Grand Slam title on his favorite surface.
Perhaps we should have known early on in the match when 14 time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras arrived courtside along side his wife Bridgette Wilson-Sampras for the first time since he last appeared at Wimbledon as a competitor that this was to be no ordinary final. From the beginning Roddick played like a man possessed. Showing absolutely no desire to be trampled in straight sets and made a footnote in history as was Robin Soderling's fate in Paris just a few weeks ago when Federer completed the career Grand Slam and equalled Sampras's record total of 14 overall Grand Slam titles, Roddick served notice that if Roger was going to etch his name as the greatest of all time he was going to have to pry this title from his cold, dead hands. With his serve and his forehand already in top form, Roddick's backhand was rock solid, his movement around the court world class, and aside from one hugely unfortunate miss at the worst possible time (read: choke) in the second set tiebreak, his net game was better than it has ever been showing both the ability to hit penetrating volleys as well as flashes of touch when it was needed. In the simplest terms, there was absolutely no visible weakness anywhere in his game, and against any other opponent he would have likely rolled to a straight sets victory.
Federer, of course, is not any other opponent. With Roddick serving in excess of 140mph at a success rate of over 80% through the first three sets, not enough can be said of his ability to stay focused and avoid falling into the trap of going for too much on his own service game in an effort to compensate. In fact, Roger was so dialed in with his own serve that he fired off a career high 50 aces during the course of the match. As the match went deep into the 5th set conventional wisdom suggested that the man who was physically fitter and mentally tougher would ultimately prevail. However, what made this match such a spectacle was that neither man appeared to have the edge over the other physically or mentally as they went toe to toe with their serves and ran each other into the corners until Roddick earned the first opportunity to break at 8 all, burying Federer in a 15-40 hole. In the face of adversity however, Roger fired off an ace to climb to 30-40, and then pulled off a tremendously gutsy (as well as risky) forehand swing volley for a winner to level the game at deuce before closing the game out on two more big serves. After comfortably trading holds for several more games, it was then Federer who found himself sniffing his first real opportunity to break serve all day with Roddick serving at 14-15 to stay in the match. Roddick's backhand, which had been solid all day finally cracked - even if only for a point, while Roger later benefited from a shanked return that forced Roddick to scramble up to the net and play the ball straight back to his waiting forehand for a wrist flick passing shot into a wide open court. Another mishit off the forehand side on championship point and it was all she wrote.
In the end it would be fair to say that in spite of the fact that Roger claimed the title and secured his place in history as the greatest player in the history of men's tennis, there was no loser today. Roddick played at a level that can only be described as other worldly, and he forced Roger to reach that same level in order to defeat him. For the non-fan, this match was enough to convert them to a casual fan of our beautiful sport. For the casual fan, they became a die hard today. For those who are/were already die hard fans, this was nearly 5 hours of nerve wracking, gut wrenching, dangle off edge of your couch and scream at the television tennis we were absolutely blessed to witness. Watching the match, it felt as though we were transported to some perfect world of sport where Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson were squaring off in their primes with no judges to score the fight - just slugging it out until ultimately one man falls. For several years now it has been said that tennis has never known a greater ambassador than Roger Federer, and never more so has that been true than today. The same must now also be said for Andy Roddick as an ambassador for American tennis. Kudos to both on a truly spectacular effort, and now pardon me as I go watch this match again on my DVR without the commercials!
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