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Lot Essay
"It's not one of those goals you set as a little boy but it's been quite a career and quite a month. I hope to come back for many years." (Roger Federer, BBC Sport, 2009)
Roger arrived at the Wimbledon Championships in 2009, just two weeks after his heroics in Paris, looking to regain his crown after losing out to Nadal in 2008. His Spanish rival had withdrawn due to a knee injury, and after Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray exited the tournament in the quarter and semi-finals respectively, the draw appeared to be wide open.
Roger's progress to a seventh final was assured and impressive, with only the German Philip Kohlschreiber able to take a set from him. In the final, Andy Roddick stood in the way of Roger and sporting history. This would be the duo’s 21st meeting and the fourth in a Grand Slam final, with Roger currently leading 3-0. Many commentators were predicting an easy victory for the Swiss star, however Roddick had other ideas.
The American started the final strongly, taking the first set 7-5, before Roger took the decisive second 7-6. Roddick would rue letting four set points slide by in the tiebreak. The third set went the same way, with Roger prevailing in a tiebreak, but a brave performance from Roddick in the penultimate set, levelled the match. For the third year in a row Roger was taken to five sets in a Wimbledon final and as previously, there was no shortage of drama. Roger triumphed in one of the most memorable final sets of all time, finally breaking the American’s serve to win 16-14. This far surpassed the previous Grand Slam record of 20 games in a final set. Pete Sampras, on his first visit to Wimbledon since 2002, joined the ovation from his position in Centre Court’s Royal Box, having watched Roger win one of tennis’ greatest matches to break his most coveted Grand Slam record.
Roger arrived at the Wimbledon Championships in 2009, just two weeks after his heroics in Paris, looking to regain his crown after losing out to Nadal in 2008. His Spanish rival had withdrawn due to a knee injury, and after Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray exited the tournament in the quarter and semi-finals respectively, the draw appeared to be wide open.
Roger's progress to a seventh final was assured and impressive, with only the German Philip Kohlschreiber able to take a set from him. In the final, Andy Roddick stood in the way of Roger and sporting history. This would be the duo’s 21st meeting and the fourth in a Grand Slam final, with Roger currently leading 3-0. Many commentators were predicting an easy victory for the Swiss star, however Roddick had other ideas.
The American started the final strongly, taking the first set 7-5, before Roger took the decisive second 7-6. Roddick would rue letting four set points slide by in the tiebreak. The third set went the same way, with Roger prevailing in a tiebreak, but a brave performance from Roddick in the penultimate set, levelled the match. For the third year in a row Roger was taken to five sets in a Wimbledon final and as previously, there was no shortage of drama. Roger triumphed in one of the most memorable final sets of all time, finally breaking the American’s serve to win 16-14. This far surpassed the previous Grand Slam record of 20 games in a final set. Pete Sampras, on his first visit to Wimbledon since 2002, joined the ovation from his position in Centre Court’s Royal Box, having watched Roger win one of tennis’ greatest matches to break his most coveted Grand Slam record.