Wimbledon 2005 News
By Eleanor Preston | July 03, 2005

FLAWLESS FEDERER WINS WIMBLEDON HATRICK

There are times when tennis brings forth a surprise and times when it doesn't but when Roger Federer is involved, even when the expected happens it still tends to be amazing.

As widely predicted, Federer beat Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 to win his third successive Wimbledon title on Sunday but even though there was no upset, the Swiss maestro's achievement itself was still remarkable; as was the tennis he played to achieve it.

"I really did play my best and I'm very, very proud, this is very special," said Federer.

It was Federer's fifth grand slam title in two years, his 36th consecutive victory on grass and marked the 21st final in a row that he has won, all of which confirms his status as the finest grass court player of his generation and earns him the right to be mentioned in the same breath as five-time champion Bjorn Borg and seven-time winner Pete Sampras. Federer has now won the same number of Wimbledons as Fred Perry, Bill Tilden, John McEnroe, John Newcombe and Boris Becker, amongst others.

"It's almost a dream. It's a nice group to be in," said Federer. "Sampras was one of my favourite players of all time and what can you say about players like Borg and Perry? To be in that group is very special. I hope it's not going to stop at three. Somehow the grass is good for me. All the records are still alive and that's a huge relief for me."

There were shades of Sampras' 1999 final against Andre Agassi, which many observers regard as one of the finest exhibitions of grass court tennis that Centre Court has ever seen. Roddick, like Agassi played well enough to have won the title and yet ended up losing in straight sets.

There comes a point where the statistics become bewildering and all you can do is sit back and admire what those gifted hands can do with a racket. Roddick played easily as well as he did in last year's final and yet he seemed further away from the title than ever. He attacked more, placed Federer under greater pressure than before and was as brave and aggressive as he dared to be, yet it wasn't nearly enough. When he stayed back Federer always had one more shot and when Roddick came forward, which he did more often than not, Federer simply rolled that majestic arm and passed him.

Roddick did well not to either lose his temper or to give up altogether, both of which must have crossed his mind. There were moments when he simply shook his head or looked forlornly at his coach Dean Goldfine, who could do nothing but urge his man to keep trying. To his credit, Roddick did, but his efforts simply spurred Federer onto greater and greater heights.

"I'm more in the mood for a beer right now than a chat," said Roddick, still able to find his sense of humour during his post-match television interview with the BBC's Sue Barker. "I couldn't have asked for more from myself. I worked so hard and I wanted to win this tournament so badly but Roger's the best for a reason. You run out of options because he's become such a complete player. Maybe I'll just punch him or something."

The one-sidedness of the match robbed the Centre Court crowd of the kind of drama which characterized Venus Williams' win over Lindsay Davenport in the epic women's final and they did their best to lift Roddick while, at the same time, gasping in awe and delight at much of Federer's play.

Two breaks of serve were enough to give the Swiss the first set and he was a break up in the second set before Roddick forced the tiebreaker, at which point Federer simply turned the dial to "excellent" and romped away with it. He broke early in the third to end any hope Roddick had of making it an American clean sweep of the 2005 Wimbledon singles titles.

When Federer's chance came to serve for a place in history the only wobble was an overly casual backhand he hit at 30-0 up. He righted his mistake in the next point, taking the first of two match-points with an undeliverable first serve and let out a howl of delight which was closely followed by a hug from Roddick and a little burst of tears when he sat down, his place in history assured.

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