The year 2009 has been a roller coaster of undulating ride on the international tennis circuit. 2009 was destined to be an year of epic matches that started right from Melbourne to the Flushing Meadows. But the Wimbledon final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick deserves to be one of the greatest matches in the history.
After the hysteria and hype created by the final at Wimbledon in 2008,few could have imagined that this year too,the Centre Court with its newly built retractable roof would witness something spectacular of that sort. History was destined to be created on 5th of July,2009 at the Centre court in a phenomenal match between two Grand slam championships whose rivalry dates back to early decade-Roger Federer and Andy Roddick in the presence of some tennis greats including Bjorn Borg, Rod Laver and Pete Sampras,the man whose own record was at stake.
Roger Federer was the obvious favorite to lift his 6th Wimbledon trophy and climb Mt.Slam with his 15th GS titles overall. But his opponent was no more the Roddick which the tennis world had seen in the last few years.Though the consequence of this match was not a surprising one,yet the intensity of the stroke making by the Swiss Maestro and the resilient American would certainly go down to make this one of the best matches in the history of the sport.
As expected,the first set saw some big booming serves from both the players which saw them sail to 5-all.After squandering a couple of break points, Federer lost the first set to Roddick 5-7 thanks to his forehand errors. The second set went to a tiebreaker with both the players holding on to their own serve.The tiebreaker proved the most crucial stage of the match. Roddick blew away a huge opportunity in the tie breaker to go two-sets up,which he earlier led by 6-2 before Federer managed to reel off next six points and tie the match at one set a piece.
Roddick walked off the court immediately after he squandered four set points and went to the wrong side and asked for the balls when it was his turn to receive.Soon he found his focus and the third set too went for a tie breaker.Federer grabbed it 7-5 in the breaker and led two sets to one.
Now when it seemed that the Swiss Maestro would easily wrap it up in four,fate had something else stored for this match.The fourth set continued and Roddick broke Federer for the second time in the match to grab the set 6-3 and take it to the distance.
The fifth set was an epic set to be ever played in the Championships in terms of its length as well as number of games.Federer had to save two break points in the 17th game at 15-40,first one with his first serve and the next one with an unreturnable serve. The fifth set crossed an hour mark when the score was 10-all. Everyone wondered for how long this match was going to continue.At 14-15, it was the time for someone to blink and (un)fortunately, it was again the American who gave Federer a chance to secure his place in the history thanks to some of his forehand mishits. And just as champions do,Federer played a perfect percentage tennis and grabbed his only chance with both hands to surpass Pete to become the most successful player at Grand Slams.
It was the longest fifth set and a record 30 games were played in a single set.The match was a witness to aces,winners and brilliant shot making from both the players.The statistics were simply eye-catching with Federer hitting a whopping 50 aces,107 winners and 38 unforced errors while Roddick had 27 aces,74 winners and 33 unforced errors.
Though the match ended with Federer once again taking away the trophy for a sixth time and cameras following him,it was Roddick who won the hearts of the crowd. Though the Centre Court was cheering loud and out for Federer during the match,it was louder for Roddick after it. The match not only showed the depth in men's tennis nowadays but also made the world realize how cruel this sport can be!
It was the longest fifth set and a record 30 games were played in a single set.The match was a witness to aces,winners and brilliant shot making from both the players.The statistics were simply eye-catching with Federer hitting a whopping 50 aces,107 winners and 38 unforced errors while Roddick had 27 aces,74 winners and 33 unforced errors.
Though the match ended with Federer once again taking away the trophy for a sixth time and cameras following him,it was Roddick who won the hearts of the crowd. Though the Centre Court was cheering loud and out for Federer during the match,it was louder for Roddick after it. The match not only showed the depth in men's tennis nowadays but also made the world realize how cruel this sport can be!
