No Nadal,no problem for Federer

Roger Federer insisted on Sunday that the achievement of winning an historic 15th Grand Slam title has not been diminished by the injury-enforced absence of old rival Rafael Nadal.

Federer won Wimbledon for the sixth time on Sunday with an epic 5-7,7-6 8/6,7-6 7/5,3-6,16-14 win over Andy Roddick,a victory which allowed him to pass Pete Sampras8217;s record of 14 majors. The Swiss star passed that mark with a first victory at the French Open and on Sunday regained the Wimbledon trophy he lost in 2008 to Nadal who was absent this year because of a knee injury.

But Federer believes his record should not be devalued by the absence of the Spaniard who has a 13-7 winning record over the Swiss star. 8220;I don8217;t think it should. In tennis,that8217;s the way it goes. Everybody expected Andy Murray to be in the final here. He wasn8217;t. It8217;s not the mistake of the one who wins at the end,8221; said Federer. 8220;Of course,I would have loved to play Rafa again. But,then again,I8217;ve also played Andy Roddick now in three great Wimbledon finals and I think he deserves credit,too,for playing so well. 8220;You never know how Rafa would have played,but it8217;s sad he couldn8217;t even give it a fair chance. 8220;I8217;m happy at least that I became No. 1 in the world by winning the tournament,not just by him not playing at all,or me playing decent or someone else playing decent and getting to No. 1. That8217;s not the way it8217;s supposed to be.8221;

Federer,whose record-breaking efforts were witnessed by Sampras said it was 8220;crazy8221; trying to come to terms with winning 15 majors. 8220;It8217;s staggering that I8217;ve been able to play so well for so many years now and stay injury-free,8221; he explained. 8220;There is a certain routine that8217;s started to happen the last few years since I became No. 1 in the world. I knew what it took to win the big ones. It8217;s crazy that I8217;ve been able to win so many in such a short period of time.8221;

Despite his joy,Federer had sympathy for Roddick,whom he has now defeated in three Wimbledon finals as well as the 2006 US Open title match. The Swiss predicted the 26-year-old American will come back stronger and be a genuine threat when the circuit heads to the United States in the build-up to the final major of the season. 8220;It8217;s hard. Tennis is cruel sometimes. I went through some five-setters in Grand Slam finals too and ended up losing,8221; said Federer. 8220;But he did great. He8217;s not going to let his head hang down. I think he8217;s going to come back strong and play great in the States. I had to play my very,very best to come through.8221;