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We couldn’t end our ‘ten favourite Grand Slam moments’ series without recounting a Wimbledon final that saw Roger Federer clinch a record 15th Grand Slam title. With Pete Sampras in attendance, the finalists delivered an appropriately epic contest…
When a maiden French Open victory finally earned Roger Federer the ‘career slam’ he had long been denied by the presence of king of clay Rafael Nadal, a momentous record lingered just around the corner.
In raising the Coupe des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros, Federer had achieved a double-whammy; not only completing his Grand Slam set, but equalling Pete Sampras’ tally of 14 major tournament victories in the process.
But despite professing that he could ‘finally play in peace’ after his first French Open triumph, in truth, Federer would remain unsatisfied until a 15th Grand Slam title appeared on his mantelpiece. A victory at Wimbledon would firmly cement Federer’s name as the most successful player in history.
Having taken the crown on five occasions at the All England Club, the Swiss roared through to a seventh consecutive Wimbledon final. Twice a beaten finalist by Federer at SW19, a rejuvenated Andy Roddick faced the daunting task of downing a man on the cusp of re-writing history.
When Pete Sampras took his seat in the Royal Box in the third game of the contest to gasps and applause from all corners of centre court, the realisation hammered home that Federer was on the brink of usurping the American’s Grand Slam achievements.
The title of ‘the greatest of all time’ lay in wait…
Piling on the pressure at the end of the first set, Federer brought up four break points in game eleven. But Roddick held firm, saving three with service winners and riding his luck when Federer missed a backhand pass wide.
If that deviated from the script, Roddick’s break of serve to clinch the set ripped up those expecting a procession. The American set out his stall with a stunning cross-court forehand pass from beyond the tramlines, and sealed the break when a deep backhand forced Federer to go long.
The American looked superb, Federer, uncharacteristically nervous. Perhaps Sampras’ arrival had forced the magnitude of the occasion on him. Roddick never looked in doubt of dropping serve in the second, but Federer offered up little signs of handing over another break himself. This time a tie-break was inevitable.
A Federer double-fault handed Roddick a lead in the tie-break, and when the Swiss bunted a forehand long on his way to go 6-2 up, he looked on course set to post a dramatic upset.
But after seeing Federer save three of the four set points with two big serves and one carefully crafted point that ended with a short cross-court backhand pass at the net, Roddick’s nerve failed him.
The American worked his way to the net with a deep approach that Federer sent looping back down the line. Indecision entered Roddick’s mind as he contemplated leaving the ball to drop long or burying the high backhand volley into the empty court.
In the end he did neither, slicing the ball past the far tramlines and out to the wails of the 15,000-strong crowd.
Roddick was clearly affected by the miss, dropping the next two points with glaring errors to lose the set and returning to the wrong end of the court after taking a comfort break before the start of the third. But Federer couldn’t find a way to make his man pay, struggling to read and deal with the American’s serve – regularly hitting the 130s and creeping up to 143mph at times.
In game six he came close, bringing up a his first break point in two sets only to see it snuffed out with another 126mph service winner. It was as close as either player came to a break as Roddick held on to Federer’s coat-tails, but this time the Swiss dominated the ensuing breaker with two mini-breaks early on proving enough to take him one set from greatness.
Roddick, though, was not intent on being a footnote to history. Relishing the chase, Roddick stunned Federer in game four with a foray to the net that caught the Swiss off-guard to reach break point, and made him pay with two backhand drives to force the error with Federer up court.
The Swiss responded to reach deuce in the next game, but Roddick held firm, patiently trading blows from the baseline and serving well to reach 5-2. The American suffered a scary moment, slipping at the back of the court and hyperextending his right knee to his obvious discomfort. But any thoughts that he might be hampered by the tumble were allayed when he creamed a cross-court backhand return for a winner on the next point.
Federer stepped up a gear with Roddick serving the level the match 2-2, but it was too late. A scrambled forehand kept low enough to force Federer to net to bring up set point, sealed with a 130mph service winner.
So the Wimbledon final ran to a fifth set for the third successive year, but there had never been a decider like it in the tournament’s history. In all it took 30 games – and 96 minutes – to separate them with a single break of serve.
But while Roddick infamous serve kept him in it, Federer’s serving was outstanding.
Roddick, despite going fives sets against Hewitt and four against Murray to reach the final, showed no sign of fatigue, but neither did Federer. Both men were still raining down serves, until Roddick prised an opening with the score at 8-8. The American hit winners off of both flanks to reach 15-40, only to Federer serve and volley his way to deuce and survive.
At that point, Roddick began to slow down. He could still rely on his serve to buy him enough free points to hold, but slowly he began to lose touch with Federer in the rallies. The Swiss stretched his quads between points, but did not look to be hampered at any point.
Finally, it all became too much. At 14-15, serving to stay in the match for an eleventh time, Roddick had no more. His serve carried him to deuce, but Federer won every point that reached a rally as a framed forehand and a tired backhand betrayed him. Two successive framed forehands sailed long, the second of which handed Federer a famous record.
Changing into a gold-trimmed jacket with the number 15 sewn into the back, Federer basked in the glory of surpassing Sampras’ Grand Slam record.
Almost as special as seeing Federer make history was the graciousness Roddick displayed in defeat.
“I just want to say congratulations to Roger, he deserves everything he gets, so well done Roger,” said the American, before looking up to the Royal Box, and telling compatriot Sampras: “I tried – sorry Pete.”
