Advertisement ::

Enlarge Cartoon

Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Roger Federer won an epic match against American Andy Roddick that went to 16-14 in the fifth set. Roddick only lost his service in the final game of the match, which lasted four hours and 16 minutes. The victory broke Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam wins. Sampras was in the Royal Box along with other legends Bjorn Borg and  Rod Laver, the only male to twice win all four Grand Slam titles in the same year.

At 5-5 in the first set Federer had four break points but Roddick saved each one and then broke service himself to win the set 7-5. The second set went with serve until the tie-break when Roddick stormed to a 6-2 lead to give himself for set points for a two set lead: incredibly Federer then took the next six points to level the match at one set each. 

The third set again went with serve till the tie-break which Federer won 7-5. Roddick refused to  give up and won the next set 6-3 to set up the marathon fifth set. There were no breaks of serve and the match continued to be played at a high standard despite fatigue setting in. Eventually Federer took the match  when he broke serve in the 30th game of the set. The final score was 5-7 7-6 7-6 3-6 16-14.  The win also restores the Swiss star’s position at the top of the men’s rankings from Rafael Nadal, absent from this year’s Wimbledon through injury.

In the women’s final on Saturday Serena Williams overpowered her elder sister Venus 7-6 9-2.

Details, Wimbledon site