The Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick #Wimbledon final from July 5, 2009 lasted 4 hours and 16 minutes, including a 95-minute fifth set, and lasted 77 games -- marking the longest major final in history.
Roddick admits to being jealous of Federer's easygoing tennis style
ATPSunday, 01 September 2024 at 04:00
Andy
Roddick spoke about his admiration for Roger Federer and the ease with which he
played. The American had the best part of his career in the early 2000s,
winning his only Grand Slam title at the 2003 US Open, shortly after Federer
lifted his first major at Wimbledon that same year.
Federer's
arrival on the Tour marked a new era as he reached the incredible milestone of
20 Grand Slam titles, far surpassing the seemingly insurmountable 14 of Pete
Sampras. The Swiss Maestro went down in history for his elegance on the court,
which is why many still consider him the “Greatest of All Time,” despite
holding the record as years later Rafael Nadal (22) and Novak Djokovic (24)
would surpass him.
Roddick on Federer’s dominance: “He was the guy I played most in big matches”
Between
2004 and 2007, Federer won 11 of the 16 Grand Slam tournaments contested,
defeating Roddick in four of those finals. The Swiss dominated their
head-to-head with an impressive 21-3 record against one of the standout players
of the 2000s. Roddick reached world No. 1 in 2003 and 2004 for a total of 13
weeks and remained in the top 10 for a total of 440 weeks until the end of the
decade.
In a recent
episode of Served with Andy Roddick, the former player, contemporary of the
42-year-old Federer, opened up about the ‘jealousy’ he felt towards Federer for
his relaxed approach to tennis: “I don’t have a lot of regrets. I don't envy
people for their successes. I am more than happy that these three (Federer,
Nadal, and Djokovic) have won all of the tournaments that they've won,” he
said. “I was very jealous and still jealous of Roger (Federer) because he was
the guy I played most in the biggest matches.”
“Just
because we were good on the same surfaces at the same time, his ease of
operation just drove me crazy. I could see him on the Saturday before a Grand
Slam losing to some chucker on our practice court, and I walked by and he was
smiling, laughing.”
One of the
most memorable finals was the 2009 Wimbledon, where the American came closest
to overcoming Federer. The Swiss secured an epic victory, breaking the record
for the longest final in a major (in terms of games played) 5–7, 7–6(8–6),
7–6(7–5), 3–6, 16–14, with a total of 77 games. On that occasion, Federer
finally broke Sampras' record by winning his 15th Slam title.
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