Greatest Tennis Match of All Time?

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

Today at Wimbledon, the greatest tennis match of all-time was play between Roger Federer, the world's number two ranked player, and American, sixth ranked Andy Roddick. Roger Federer was seeking a record 15th Grand Slam title, looking to break the tie he shared with the great Pete Sampras. Andy Roddick was seeking his second grand slam title, his first at Wimbledon and first since March 2003. Both men were formerly ranked the best in the world and are the only players to finish in the ATP Top-10 for the past seven years. Andy Roddick also holds the world record for the fastest tennis serve, clocking 155 miles per hour.

Roger Federer cruised through the tournament to the finals, his record seventh consecutive final, only losing one set to Philipp Kohlschreiber in his six matches. Andy Roddick faced a tougher road, only taking one game in straight sets and having one match go the entire five. Against He faced number 3 ranked Andy Murray, a Briton and the crowd's favorite. Roddick played a nearly flawless game, taking out Murray in four sets and ending England's only shot at winning at Wimbledon for the first time since 1936. Andy Roddick would meet Roger Federer, a man he was previous 2-18 against, in the finals.

Andy Roddick showed a great mental toughness, playing the man who has defeated him a dozen and a half times, a man who he rarely takes a set against. Andy Roddick shocked the world and excited America, taking the first set of the match 7-5. The next set went to a tie break. Roddick was a point away from going up two sets, but slipped and allowed Roger to win the second set 7-6. The third set again when to a tie break, which Roger Federer took again. It looked as though Andy was done. No one comes back after giving Roger Federer an advantage. In the fourth set, Andy Roddick showed his heart, fighting back and winning decisively, 6-3, and forcing a fifth set. History was about to be made.

Through four sets, Roger Federer was not able to break Andy Roddick's serve once. The American showed the world why he was once the greatest in tennis and had me believing in him. For the first time in my life, I was emotionally invested in a tennis match and truly cared about the outcome. I skipped church to finish watching this match.

Roddick and Federer traded games, each winning their serve. In the fifth round of Wimbledon, there is no tie break. The game went to 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, and continued on. I sat on the edge of my chair, watching as Roddick dominated with his serve, reaching speeds of 136+ miles per hour after four grueling hours of play. Both men showed mental and physical toughness, proving they could go farther than anyone expected. The game tied 14-14 and both men looked as though they could go for days without stop. It was Federer's serve and he took a fifteenth game, putting the pressure back on Roddick. For the first time in the match, after hours of game play, Roger Federer broke Andy Roddick's serve. With former Wimbledon champions and legends of the sport, including Pete Sampras, Björn Borg, and John McEnroe, Roger Federer won his sixth Wimbledon title and more importantly, 15th grand slam. After the match, Roger Federer regained his status as the top-ranked player in the world and is now called the greatest of all-time.

I'd say that the atmosphere, high stakes, underdog story, and great play of this match make it the greatest of all-time. What do you say?

 

[Leeds Guy]

Let me start by saying I hate Tennis. This final didn't hold a candle to the Federer - Nadal match last year, even I watched that and thought it was awesome. I watched bits and bats today and from what I did see it looked ridiculous, yes it was close and at 2 sets each you had a fantastic game but when it carried on and ended up at 14-15 it was ridiculous there has to be a quicker way of ending the match as that just dragged on and on and on. Fair play to Federer he is now the greatest Tennis player ever (wahey!!!!!!) and Roddick was unlucky, well I say unlucky he could have killed the game off earlier on but I'm sure he will be happy at the £425,000 he gets for losing. At least we can all forget about this god awful sport for another year now. Good Final? yes up untill the daft tie-breakers. Greatest Ever? not even close to the Federer-Nadal final last year.

 

[The Todd]

Today's final was a superb showcase for tennis. As you said, it had everything. It had a vastly improved Roddick taking on the (personal opinion) second greatest sports star since 1990. However, last years final beats it, even though I can't buy into Nadal at all, and I was super pissed off Federer lost. Last year had all the drama this years had and more still.

There was more excitement because it was the unbeatable Federer against his arch nemesis, the two best in the world, there were more breaks of serve, today's got a tad predictable at times and last year had out of this world rallies and winners on every point. It also went five sets and the final set was 8-6 (i think). The match ended in near darkness on Centre Court after rain delays.

Now I am not taking away from today's match in the slightest, it was immense. The only negative was some points were over too quickly so we didn't have as many breathtaking rallies and winners.

Going slightly off subject, how awesome will the US Open be? Federer, the king of flushing meadows, Nadal who is improving on hard courts after his Aussie Open win, Roddick who has won there and has this new level of performance and Murray, who is much better on hard courts than grass. It should be thrilling, which is annoying since it's the only Slam we don't get on terrestrial TV.

 

[gd]

It was the greatest match I've ever seen, but considering I've only watched a handful of tennis matches that's not saying much. Still, it was fucking incredible. 30 games in the 5th set? Are you serious, that's crazy. It was only a matter of time until it ended, and considering Federer seemed like the better player for most of the day the right man one.

However, I was pulling for the American all the way. If only he could have converted on one of his FOUR set points in the second set tiebreak, he would've had a 2 set lead and we could've been talking about a huge upset by Roddick and probably a choke by Federer. Roddick did prove himself as one of the best in the world today despite coming up just short and I wouldn't be surprised if he won the US Open later this year.

 

[Raw Power]

What the hell, I'm no tennis expert, I never watched in the past decades, but no way. It was good, but even last year's final was better. The final set got to feel like a never ending penalty shootout - sure, it was tense, and you wanted to know who won, but the actual tennis wasn't even that good. Federer vs Nadal last year was better.