IT LACKED the aesthetic niceties of last year's contest between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but the 2009 Wimbledon final was no less memorable for that.
A brutal battle between Federer and No6 seed Andy Roddick could have gone either way – and for a time looked as if it might never end – but at last the Swiss player prevailed, winning 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14 in four hours and 16 minutes
to claim a record 15th Grand Slam title.
And, while delicate strokes and delightful rallies were few on the ground compared to 2008, the standard from first to last was higher. A year ago Federer had been badly substandard for the first two sets: yesterday both he and Roddick were on top of their game from the start, and stayed that way for almost the entire length of a marathon tussle.
If anyone in the 15,000 Centre Court crowd had turned up unsure of what kind of contest to expect, they were soon made aware. Roddick opened up with two aces, Federer replied in the same way.
That uncompromising start established the pattern of an opening set in which only a handful of points went against serve for the first ten games. Indeed, the fifth game was the only one in that spell in which either player lost two points on his own serve.
That all changed when Roddick had to serve to stay in the set for the first time at 5-5. He lost his first two points, and at last there was the inkling of a chance for a break. He forced his way out of that, but then fell 30-40 down for the first break point of the match.
The American saved that one, and then three more, as Federer just could not find the opening to put him away. There were three challenges in the game, too, with Roddick making one correctly, his opponent two in error. When the dust settled on it all, the No6 seed had held, and it was Federer's turn, at 5-6 down, to try to stay in the set.
He failed to do so, in what was an anticlimactic moment. There was no obvious sign that the No2 seed had allowed his concentration to waver, but that was the clear explanation for what happened in that 12th game. Another incorrect challenge from the five-time former champion gave Roddick set point, and on the next point Federer hit the ball wide to Roddick's left to go a set behind.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with both men serving almost impeccably. This time there was no letting up from either player as the end approached, and Federer held strongly to force the tiebreak.
What transpired during that tiebreak looked at the time like a turning point. Although there were to be more than a few twists before the outcome was finally decided, it certainly would have been a very different match had Roddick managed to convert one of the four set points he had after racing into a 6-2 lead.
The first set point was on his own serve, but he was unable to take it, and Federer sensed an opening. A winning serve then an ace took him to 6-5 and put the pressure on Roddick. It told on the very next point, when the American chose to play a shot which had appeared to be going wide, and sent a volley out of play. The impetus was with the Swiss man then, and he took the next two points to level at a set apiece.
If Roddick was despondent, it was no more than a fleeting emotion, for he began and continued the third set in the same implacable manner he had been displaying before that tiebreak. Federer was in identical mood, and it was no surprise when a tiebreak was again required to separate the two. Federer did not mess around this time, instead taking an early advantage and holding on to take it 7-5.
With an 18-2 disadvantage in his head-to-head meetings with Federer, Roddick might have been expected to wilt at this point, even slightly. But the Roddick who has been on show here for the past two weeks is mentally stronger and far more mature than he once was, and in the fourth set he simply refused to show any sign of cracking.
Instead, it was Federer who was unable to stay the pace, losing his serve to go 3-1 behind and never having a chance to get back in contention. He successfully served to stay in the set at 5-2 down, but Roddick held on to force the contest into a decisive fifth set.
In that set he held on time after time as well, when, from 4-4 onwards, he had to serve to stay in the match. As he did so, and as Federer maintained his own ludicrously high standard, it was almost impossible to discern where a conclusion might come from, and in whose favour.
The record for most games in a single set in a men's final was broken in the 25th game, which Federer won to go 13-12 ahead. At last Roddick showed a sign of weakness by losing his first point on serve in the 28th game, but he clawed his way back into the contest to make it 14-14. In no time at all, by contrast, Federer had made it 15-14, emphasising slightly superior powers of concentration.
Game 30 began badly for the man from Nebraska as he lost his first two points. He then won three points in a row and the crisis looked over, but moments later he was in trouble again and facing a first match point. It was the only chance Federer needed. The Swiss kept calm, inviting Roddick to make an error, and the American obliged, skying a forehand out of play.
Both players looked stunned, as if they needed time to comprehend that it was all over. But it was, and for the second year running Wimbledon had served up one of the classic finals.
CLASSIC FINALS1980: BJORN BORG BEATS JOHN McENROE 1-6 7-5 6-3 6-7 (16/18) 8-6
WITH Borg going for his fifth successive Wimbledon crown, 21-year-old McEnroe, with his famous sliced serve, raced into an early lead.
The American seemed to be out of juice when Borg came steaming back at him claiming the next two sets with a minimum of fuss, before going a break up in the fourth.
But McEnroe broke back to take the set into the now legendary tie-breaker, in which the left-hander saved five match points before finally prevailing 18-16.
A tiring McEnroe scrapped through set five, but the Swede finally broke him in game 14 to seal a truly epic victory.
Borg's Wimbledon streak finished on five titles but McEnroe was clearly a future champion and returned to win the trophy in 1981, 1983 and 1984.
1984: JOHN McENROE BEATS JIMMY CONNORS 6-1 6-1 6-2
Not a classic in the traditional sense – the match was barely a contest, but McEnroe's display against his great American rival is still considered to be the finest exhibition of grass-court tennis ever witnessed.
He broke to love in Connors' first service game to sprint into a 3-0 lead, then again in game six for 5-1 before serving out the first set.
Before Connors had time to regroup he was 4-0 down in the second, with McEnroe in complete control of his serve-volley game, and though he battled he could manage just two games in the third.
It was McEnroe's third and final Wimbledon title and was revenge for his surprise 1982 loss to Connors at SW19.
Arguably, the demolition was one of the most comprehensive victories in the history of Grand Slam finals.
The only comparison may be the Federer's drubbing of Hewitt in the 2004 US Open final. McEnroe only had two unforced errors in the whole match and was serving at his peak.
It was a mis-match but the sheer quality of McEnroe's play made for compelling viewing.
1990: STEFAN EDBERG BEAT BORIS BECKER 6-2 6-2 3-6 3-6 6-4
This was the great comeback that never was in a display of wonderful attacking tennis on Centre Court.
Becker revealed in his autobiography he had taken too many sleeping pills the night before and played the first two sets "like a sleepwalker".
Perhaps things would have been different had Becker been wide awake, but Edberg was flawless at the net as he strolled into a two-set lead.
But Becker stormed back with some thrilling tennis in the final three sets – though the third consecutive final between the pair, the previous two of which had been split, was edged by the Swede in the fifth.
This was the third year in a row that Edberg and Becker had contested the final. The German had secured his third title the year before with Edberg, at the time the only man to have beaten Becker on Centre Court, winning in 1988.
2001: GORAN IVANISEVIC BEAT PAT RAFTER 6-3 3-6 6-3 2-6 9-7
The People's Final was the first to begin on the third Monday after rain had disrupted the Championships and ended as one of the great sporting fairytales.
Ivanisevic had made three finals at the All England Club, losing in five sets to Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras in 1992 and 1998 and in three to Sampras in 1994, but, having entered as a wild card in 2001, nobody expected much from the big-serving Croat.
However, he fought his way through to the latter stages and won a place in the final after breaking the hearts of Tim Henman and the host nation in the semi-finals in another rain-affected epic.
A large contingent of Australian backpackers made for a raucous Centre Court crowd, with a see of Australian and Croatian flags making for a football stadium-like atmosphere, and the players rose to the occasion, pumping themselves up in five topsy-turvy sets, the first four of which were split between the two.
Rafter had his chances in the final set but Ivanisevic battled his way to championship point and, with tears in his eyes, claimed an epic fifth to ensure he would not be remembered as one of the sport's nearly men.
2007: ROGER FEDERER BEAT RAFAEL NADAL 7-6 (9/7) 4-6 7-6 (7/3) 2-6 6-2
One of the greatest Wimbledon finals, Federer was made to work all the way to equal Bjorn Borg's five straight titles at the All England Club.
Federer started the match like he had the previous year, racing into a 3-0 lead, but Nadal broke back, forcing him to take the first on a tie-breaker.
Nadal, who proved to everyone that he could be a serious contender on grass after being the dominant player on clay for several years, took the second with a break in game 10 before the third went the way of the first. But Nadal, with the help of a Hawk-Eye over-rule which clearly upset Federer, took the fourth with two breaks. Federer saved four break points in the fifth, but took his game to another level to claim his fifth title.
2008: RAFAEL NADAL BEAT ROGER FEDERER 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-7 (8/10) 9-7
Nadal claimed his first Wimbledon title in epic fashion.
The Spaniard had squandered a two-set lead before sealing his triumph as darkness fell.
He was on the brink of victory after taking the advantage in the fourth-set tie-break and holding two points for the title, the second of which Federer saved with a sensational backhand winner.
But in a match interrupted by two brief rain delays, Nadal finally seized his chance in the 15th game of the final set, breaking Federer then serving out and marking his victory by crumbling to the court.
The quality of the tennis on show was at times spellbinding. Throw in the emotion and the sense of a watershed as Federer was dislodged as world No 1 and beaten at Wimbledon for the first time in six years and it's no surprise many believe this to be the greatest tennis match ever played.
