Roddick praises Federer after crushing loss

The 2009 Wimbledon final produced one of the most gladiatorial battles in tennis history on Sunday, with Roger Federer emerging from the fray with his 15th grand slam title after prevailing in the longest 5th set in the history of Wimbledon finals.

Federer was able to break Roddick’s serve just once as he battled to a 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 16-14 victory over the American. For a while it seemed likely that Roddick would be the one to break the 5th set deadlock, yet a determined Federer held on to the match and secured the title after 30 games in the final set.

"He was having trouble picking up my serve today for the first time ever," Roddick said after the match. "But you didn't even get a sense that he was even really frustrated by it. He kind of stayed the course and just toughed it out.”

The defeat was a bitter pill for Roddick, who has now lost three Wimbledon finals to Federer.

"He gets a lot of credit for a lot of things, but not for how many matches he kind of digs deep and toughs out. He doesn't get a lot of credit for that because it looks easy to him a lot of the times. But he definitely stuck in there today."

The result of the 2009 Wimbledon final will see Federer return to the top of the ATP rankings, ousting the injured Rafael Nadal. A win at the forthcoming US Open would put Federer on course for the ultimate achievement in tennis, a Grand Slam comprising four consecutive grand slam wins.