5 greatest Wimbledon men's singles finals of all time
The All England Club Championships or simply the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest and the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world. The Championships were first held over a century and a half ago, way back in 1877. Since then, it has been the lifelong dream of every budding youngster to lift the coveted trophy on the Center Court.
The Center Court of the Wimbledon Championships, located at SW19, Church Road, has been witness to some of the most memorable tennis matches of all time. Many legends have walked on the hallowed lawns of Center Court and have contributed to the rich tradition and history of this great tournament. The famed Centre Court has stood the test of time, even withstanding a bomb blast in World War II.
The venue of many an epic battle over the years aptly has the following inscription in the tunnel way to the Court -- "If you can meet with triumph and disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same".
We take a look back at 5 of the greatest men's singles finals in the Open Era:
#5 Roger Federer vs Andy Roddick (2009)
American Andy Roddick had previously lost to Roger Federer in 3 Grand Slam finals, two of which happened on the Centre Court of Wimbledon. Not having made a Grand Slam final in over 3 years, Roddick was in desperate search of an elusive Grand Slam win against Federer.
Armed with a new attacking flair coupled with improved netplay, Roddick was the 6th seed. His progress to the second week was far from easy as he had to face 3 consecutive 4-set matches before winning a tough 5-setter against Hewitt. A 4-set victory against Andy Murray followed and Roddick booked his place in the final.
Roddick’s serve was broken just once, in the 77th game (last game of the match) of the men’s final. Margins were narrow in the final as that one break of Roddick’s serve, after more than four-and-a-quarter hours of play on Centre Court, was all that Roger Federer needed to take the fifth set 16-14, to become the first man to win 15 Grand Slams, and to regain the World No 1 ranking. It was Roger Federer's 6th Grand Slam title and helped him avenge his painful loss to Nadal in 2008.
The final score was 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 and it was the longest ever Wimbledon final in respect of number of games played.