Roddick is Federer's b*tch. He's lost to him in the finals 3 years in a row! LINK WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Roger Federer strengthened his claim to greatness Sunday, winning his third consecutive Wimbledon title by beating Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-4. With an impeccable performance, even by his high standards, the top-ranked Federer became the third man since 1936 to win three straight Wimbledon crowns, joining seven-time champion Pete Sampras and five-time winner Bjorn Borg. "Nice group," Federer said during the trophy ceremony. "Sampras was one of my favorite players of all time. Borg, what you can you say about him, he's just fantastic. ... I hope it's not going to stop with three. Maybe one day I'll win a fourth one, but this one is already very, very great." Federer defeated the second-seeded Roddick at Wimbledon for the third year in a row, including the past two finals, and leads the rivalry 9-1. Roddick is 32-0 against everyone else on grass since 2003. "Pity for him," Federer said, "but I really did play my best." Federer won his 21st consecutive final and improved to 5-0 in Grand Slam finals. The 23-year-old Swiss became the first man since Tony Trabert in 1953-55 to win his first five major finals. On championship point Federer hit a 129 mph service winner, his fastest of the match. He screamed with joy, fell to his knees, rolled onto his back and covered his face with his hands. He rose and met Roddick with a hug, then raised his arms to the cheering crowd, tears in his eyes. Federer finished with 49 winners and just 12 unforced errors, an astounding ratio. During the trophy ceremony, Roddick wryly acknowledged he wasn't in the mood to talk about being overmatched. "I'm more in the mood for a beer right now," he said, prompting cheers from the Centre Court crowd. "I couldn't have asked more of myself. I put in all the work, and I wanted to win this so badly. This guy is the best for a reason and he really deserves a lot of credit. ... Maybe I'll just punch him or something." It's not just the rivalry with Roddick that underscores Federer's superiority. In the semifinals, he easily beat No. 2-ranked Lleyton Hewitt for the eighth time in a row. A rain delay after the second set slowed Federer for only 25 minutes in his pursuit of the title. He has won 36 consecutive matches on grass, including 21 at Wimbledon, since losing to Mario Ancic in the first round here in 2002. Also winning a third title at the All England Club was Venus Williams, who overcame a championship point to beat top-ranked Lindsay Davenport in the women's final Saturday. Federer's victory ended a brief Grand Slam slump. He won three major titles last year, then lost this year in the semifinals of the Australian Open and French Open. As usual, Federer won with a mixture of precision and power. On one point he placed his serve on a line, hit his second shot on another line, then slammed an overhead winner. He hit 11 aces, including a sly one on a 108 mph changeup. At the net, he made even difficult volleys look easy. During one exchange from close range, Roddick rifled three consecutive shots at Federer, who casually responded with graceful volleys, the third a winner. Only Roddick's big serve kept things close. He had little chance in baseline rallies and tried coming forward, but Federer happily accepted the invitation to tee off on passing shots, hitting 16 for winners. As Federer pulled away, there were shouts of "Come on, Andy!" from fans eager for a more competitive match. Federer refused to cooperate, saving several of his most spectacular shots for the seventh game of the final set, when he broke for a 4-3 lead. Three passing shots won points, and he smacked one return so hard it sailed between the legs of an onrushing Roddick. Reaching behind him, Roddick somehow managed to block the ball back, but Federer put away his next shot. Roddick stayed even only until the match's sixth game, when he made the mistake of hitting an overhead back to Federer, who yanked it crosscourt for a winner. That gave the Swiss a break point, which he converted. Federer broke again to take the first set. After winning 20 of his first 21 service points, he was broken for the only time and fell behind 3-1 in the second set. Federer broke back for 3-all. Roddick overcame two set points serving at 4-5, but in the tiebreaker he quickly fell behind, and when the deficit reached 5-2, he slammed his racket to the grass. He shouldn't have been so hard on himself: In the first two sets, Federer hit 33 winners with just three unforced errors. Federer improved to 7-1 in tiebreakers against Roddick, who has won one of 10 sets in their three Wimbledon showdowns. For his 30th career title, Federer won $1.1 million and Roddick earned $557,550.
Federer wins 3rd Wimbledon title in 3 years ...and the world yawns. I'm a huge tennis fan and I couldn't get into their match at all (either could Roddick).
Is anybody out there an actual Andy Roddick fan?!? (besides females, of course). I dunno... there's something about the way he portrays himself (a cocky, brattish, full-of-himself hot-head) that I know makes a lot of people despise him, or at the least, he'll never be as beloved as Sampras or Agassi once were. Somebody tried to compare "liking him" to rooting for the bad-boys like McEnroe and Conners, but I couldn't buy it. Those guys paid their dues, won several majors, and then their cockiness ran as high as ever... but only then. It also doesn't help that Roddick is nowhere near being as good as Federer is right now (in comparing him to the all-time greats).
Yeah, especially w/ all the great recent Centre Court finals like Ivanisevic, Sharapova, and Sampras' last one. Maybe it's just that Federer is so good that he makes it look almost too easy
Actually Ivanisevic was the last Wimbledon finals run that I really got into. ______ I agree about Roddick -- he has all the tools to be an interesting player (150+ serve/etc.), but he is just a boring person -- i'm sure he will grow on us in the next few years. He just needs some controversy...
Did you by chance catch the Australian final this past January? That was a great match...Safin came back after being down to beat the local Hewitt...
The appropriate question at this stage of his career should really be: top 10?? He has the potential to be one of the top 3, or greatest, ever, but he hasn't been wining long enough for that. Heck, Sampras won Wimbledon, what, 7 times? Agassi and his longevitiy, etc.
Hewitt is ranked #2 in the world and roddick #3. But for this tournament, Roddick was seeded as #2 and Hewitt as #3, which is why Hewitt played Federer in the semi rather than final. Not 100% sure how they determine the seedings, but it was something like Roddicks form on grass recently was better than Hewitts, and hence he got the second seed.
I asked a couple of months back if federer can bacome the greatest ever. IMHO he can. he is so young and so unbelievebale good. if he stays motiviated he will become the greatest ever. But he willl have to win alot of tournaments in the rest of his career. About the seeding. Wimbledon is the only grand slam that does not make his seeding according to the world ranking. they look at the world ranking, and they look at previous results on wimbledon, and then determin who they think has the best chance of winning. So they take the world ranking into account, but also the previous results. that is why Roddick was second seeded. I do not like roddick, i'm a huge federer fan(also of Philipousis). But i Like roddick alot better then Hewit, i really cannot stand Hewitt. He is so anying, it is not even funny. The dutch youngster Haase did great he got in the junoir finals, and lost to that french player. Als the liitle sister of Richard Krajiceck can become a great player, she was injured this year, but damn she has got talent, and she is only about 16 years old.
No one will ever top Krajicek in '96! The only man to stop Sampras on grass between 93 and 2000! I hate Hewitt. I dislike his noise, his attitude, demeanor. I just find it extremely annoying. I loved that Federer kicked his butt in the semis. Thank God! I like Roddick's jokes in the press room, I also like Federer being quiet and deadly on the court. Much better than all the show from Hewitt.
Yeah that was one of the best sports moment i saw in tennis ever, richard was great, he always made it difficult for Sampras on grass. The thing i like about federer (and sampras had the same) is the quitness. he is so calm. when he make an unbelievable shot he just looks at his racket, and showing for the opponent "i didn't think that was a difficult shot, i can make it everytime i get in this situation". That is great the calm confident attitude. hewitt is a show of, with his stupid fist pumping, even when the opponent gets a double fault, just anoying.
I used to follow Tennis like crazy but I felt like it really got boring. Watching Wimbledon this year really made me want to get back into it though. Federer was absolutely dominating and there were some really great matches. Wimbledon has always been my favorite Tennis event and hope to go sometime because its one of those things I have to do before I die. I have never researched it, but I wonder what it would cost to go to several matches.
I found this site and the tickets are about $1000 each (the cheap ones). I’m pretty sure we can find less expensive tickets though. I already talked to my friend Vivi, so she knows we’re stopping by next year. http://www.ticket-finders.com/wimbledon_tickets.htm
