It is becoming close to an act of rash foolishness to step onto a Wimbledon court with Roger Federer and expect to win. After a decade of Pete Sampras conducting master classes on grass, Federer arrives to seamlessly continue that same sense of chilling invincibility. Johnny Watterson reports from WimbledonWimbledonRoll of honour
An ace at the end as he sank to his knees for the second time in two years captured the moment but said little of the fierce intensity of purpose between him and the caustic game of Andy Roddick.
Four sets of break-neck, robust tennis, in which Roddick pounded Federer with everything his 6'2" frame could hurl and still the Swiss champion held on to his title to become the first player since Sampras in 1999 and 2000 to win back-to-back championships. He also steps up beside Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and Stefan Edberg in becoming the fourth man in the Open Era to win his first three Grand Slam finals. Federer adds yesterday's 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win to his 2003 Wimbledon and this year's Australian Open.
After a final of wearing intensity, Roddick will look to a number of areas where his game slipped a gear. Following a third-set rain delay, when the American was 4-2 up, he emerged only to drop the set on a tie-break, allowing Federer take tighter control of the match.
In the following set a series of wasted opportunities in consecutive games saw his trusted forehand misfire. Six break-point opportunities, he frittered away. Federer had one break opportunity and took it to win the match. A "dogfight" Roddick called it afterwards.
"If I got caught in a cute match with Roger, I would not do well," he added. "I went out and tried to take him on. I was successful most of the time. Then a couple of key points I wasn't."
Federer looked to the rain delay in the third set as a positive intervention and a chance to readjust his thinking as to the tactics he should adopt. After it, he abandoned the back court and looked to his wonderful wrists to hurt Roddick from the net.
"I thought Andy was playing good tennis. He was putting me under pressure and I couldn't play the way I wanted to," said Federer. "So I had to change some things. I came to the net more after the rain break. At 4-2, I thought about what was going on.
"This makes me extremely happy and proud that I actually made the right choice in such a moment."
Just one break of serve weighted the first set in Roddick's favour as Federer struggled to keep pace with the 21-year-old's fiery commitment and power.
Nor did the American try to pound him with a one-dimensional game from the back of the court but followed serves into the net using his much improved volley to put away the Swiss world number one. Finally, Roddick's bruising serve brought him two set points and then the set, 6-4.
The question was whether Roddick could keep his supercharged game alive for the entire match and keep Federer muscled away from his comfort zone.
His racquet, a loud percussion instrument, was regularly launching deliveries of 140 mph plus. But Federer's mastery of touch and invention so often defused Roddick's ability to generate pace, just as Roddick's return on the Federer serve had the top seed under extreme pressure in the early stages of the match.
Two service breaks in the second set for each player rocked the match to and fro. But Federer, content to stay in the back court, was gradually finding his way to the net. His second-set winner finally came from a laser forehand curling up the line and out of reach of the flailing arm of Roddick.
As ever, the momentum swung with the player who could string together a series of phrases to create a passage and shift the momentum. That arrived for Federer in the third set tie-break, after the rain break had supplied the defending champion with a fresh perspective.
Hauling back from 4-2 down, Federer served and volleyed his way through the set decider just as Roddick's level dropped.
The match was always in doubt until Roddick's profligacy finally tempted fate once too often. Six break points blasted away and in the fourth set Federer, effortlessly put him to the sword, or so it looked, a clean ace closing the competition.
"Oh definitely he has an aura about him in the locker room right now. That's for sure. I don't think anybody would argue that," said Roddick.
"You know, the thing with Roger is that he just makes it look so easy. He's really brought it together over the last year mentally.
"The talent's always been there. Not only is he fast but when he gets to the ball you can have no play on it and he makes something out of it. I think he's unparalleled as far as that skill goes. Definitely he's great at doing that and keeping himself alive at points.
"I went out and tried to take it to him, I was successful most of the time but a couple of points I wasn't and that was the key," he added. "It's tough when you knock enough times and no one answers. He just came up with the goods.
"I gave all the effort I had out there today. I played with a lot of heart and came out short."
For Roddick, the US Open cannot come fast enough. As champion he may very well have the aura on home soil. He also knows that to disconnect Federer from his almost perfect game, he needs to perform on the big points when he is under the most pressure.
Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt have the talents to hustle the Wimbledon champion but that's where it ends. A step closer but still out of reach.
Wimbledon Roll of Honour
Men's Singles Final
(1) R Federer (Swi) bt (2) A Roddick (USA) 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-4
Women's Singles Final
(13) M Sharapova (Rus) bt (1) S Williams (USA) 6-1 6-4
Men's Doubles Final
(1) J Bjorkman (Swe) and T Woodbridge (Aus) bt (16) J Knowle (Aut) and N Zimonjic (Ser) 6-1 6-4 4-6 6-4
Women's Doubles Final
(6) C Black (Zim) and R Stubbs (Aus) bt (5) L Huber (Rsa) and A Sugiyama (Jpn) 6-3 7-6 (7-5)
Mixed Doubles Final
(6) W Black (Zim) and C Black (Zim) bt (8) T Woodbridge (Aus) and A Molik (Aus) 3-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-4
Girls' Singles Final
(6) K Bondarenko (Ukr) bt (3) A Ivanovic (Ser) 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-2
Boys' Singles Final
(1) G Monfils (Fra) bt M Kasiri (Gbr) 7-5 7-6 (8-6)
