In Epic final,Roger Scripts History

On and on the fifth set stretched,further than any fifth set has ever stretched in a Grand Slam singles final. But in the end,Federers phenomenal serving was just a bit better than Roddicks phenomenal serving.

Cruel as the idea began to seem,the match had to finish. When it did with a forehand mishit error from Roddick,Federer roared and walked to the net all alone in the history books after breaking his tie with Pete Sampras,who is now second on the career list with 14 major singles titles.

Sorry Pete; I tried to hold him off, said Roddick to Sampras,who was sitting in the front row of the royal box after flying in from Los Angeles on Sunday morning.

Sampras certainly got his moneys worth for the trip as Federer held off Roddick by the unprecedented score of 5-7 7-6 6 7-6 5 3-6 16-14.

Federer,who has now won Wimbledon six times,served a personal record 50 aces in a match that took 4 hours 16 minutes. But Roddick was,on balance,the more successful server: holding 37 times in a row before finally being broken in the last game.

Unbelievable moment

It was a crazy match with an unbelievable end,and my head is still spinning, Federer said in his post-match remarks to the Centre Court crowd. But its an unbelievable moment in my career.

It was also a much happier ending at Wimbledon for Federer than last year,when he lost one of the greatest matches in tennis history against his Spanish nemesis Rafael Nadal. There was no chance of a replay this year after Nadal withdrew from the tournament before it began with knee problems.

But this years final,a very different spectacle in terms of rhythm and tactics,certainly deserves a place on the short list of great Wimbledon matches,as well.

It was an epic,it really was, said Sampras,looking and sounding weary with the jet lag and his long day in the front row that he shared with the other former tennis greats Rod Laver,Bjorn Borg and Manuel Santana.

Hes a friend,a great player,a good guy, Sampras said of Federer. Fourteen is a lot in the 90s. Hes got 15. He could get 17,18 majors when its all done. Hes a stud.