WIMBLEDON, England – Pete Sampras is used to seeing Roger Federer chase down his records. And why not? There aren't many left.
By Susan Mullane, US Presswire
Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates match point after defeating Andy Murray of Britain in the Wimbledon final on Sunday at Centre Court.
By Susan Mullane, US Presswire
Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates match point after defeating Andy Murray of Britain in the Wimbledon final on Sunday at Centre Court.
On Sunday, Federer defeated British hope Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to tie Sampras and 1880s player William Renshaw with his seventh Wimbledon crown on Centre Court.
The Swiss also extended his record of major titles to 17, though this was his first in 2½ years. He is 17-7 in Grand Slam finals, including 7-1 at Wimbledon.
"It equals me with Pete Sampras, who's my hero," said Federer. "It just feels amazing."
With the win, Federer also returns to No. 1 on Monday and will share another mark with Sampras — 286 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1.
Federer, who turns 31 in August, is the first Grand Slam winner over 30 since Andre Agassi captured the 2003 Australian Open. Agassi was 32. He's also the second oldest to hold the top ranking after 33-year-old Agassi.
Murray might not have won the day, but he certainly earned the prevailing winds of sympathy.
The stage was set for an outpouring of British patriotism, considering that London will host the Summer Games later this month and 2012 marks the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
Trying to end three-quarters of national angst and self-doubt — no British man has won a singles title at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, a string of 286 majors — Murray crumbled under the weight of those expectations shortly after the match.
When the 25-year-old took the microphone, the crowd erupted and he broke down, along with his mother, the Scottish Fed Cup captain Judy Murray, and many others in the stadium. When he finally composed himself, Murray congratulated Federer.
"He's not a bad 30-year-old," he said. "He showed what a fight he still has in him."
Then he thanked his team and all his fans, many of whom had waited overnight in the rain in tents to buy grounds passes to watch the big screen on the sloping lawn of Aorangi Terrace, otherwise known as Henman Hill.
"Last of all to you guys," he said before choking up again. "Everybody always talks about the pressure of playing at Wimbledon, how tough it is. It's not the people watching, they make it so much easier to play. The support has been wonderful. Thank you."
But the unfortunate fact of arriving in the midst of the Federer-Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal era remains: Murray is 0-4 in finals — three of those losses are to Federer — a mark he shares with his coach, Ivan Lendl, the only other man in the Open era to lose his first four majors. Lendl, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Czechoslovakia, went on to win eight, but not Wimbledon.
Federer, who will replace Djokovic at No. 1, and No. 3 Nadal have won 29 of the last 30 Grand Slam championships.
Despite reaching a record eighth Wimbledon final, Federer struggled through the first few rounds of the tournament.
He came back from a two-set deficit against Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the third round and was forced to wear a protective support after his back seized up in the fourth round against Xavier Malisse of Belgium.
After losing in the quarterfinals the last two years, to Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Federer was determined to block out the idea of tying Sampras and play aggressive tennis, no matter what the stakes.
"This year I guess I decided in the bigger matches to take it more to my opponent instead of waiting a bit more for the mistakes," Federer said.
Murray, seeded fourth, showed no early nerves in his first Wimbledon final, even with Katherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, her sister Pippa Middleton, and David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, looking on from Royal Box.
Murray broke Federer to open play, and then broke him again in the ninth game before serving out the first set.
Both players were unable to convert early break chances in the tight second set, until Federer, employing the full range of his grass-court skills, stabbed a wickedly undercut backhand volley winner after a 21-stroke rally that Murray could not chase down. The point earned him a break and the second set.
The pro-Murray crowd wasn't entirely one-sided. There were occasional shouts for Federer, too, who is beloved here.
"C'mon Roger, you're the reason we love this court," called out one fan.
When rain struck at 1-1 in the third set, organizers quickly decided to deploy Centre Court's retractable roof, which was built in 2009. After 40 minutes, play resumed and Federer took control.
He broke Murray to go up 4-2 after a grueling 26-point, 20-minute game, finally converting his sixth break point.
From then on, the game's best frontrunner continued this assault, keeping Murray at bay with pinpoint serves, lashing forehands and forward forays to the net whenever possible.
Murray counterpunched to the best of his ability but couldn't keep up with the Swiss' firepower — especially with the elements taken out of the equation.
"When we came out after the break, he was more aggressive on my serve," Murray said. "He has excellent timing, so when there's no wind or anything under the roof, he times the ball very, very well."
Federer, who was 16-0 indoors last year and 25-1 since losing at Paris in February 2010, wasn't sure the domed conditions were to his benefit until after the match.
"I'm happy that closing the roof maybe helped me today, because I wasn't sure if that was going to help me or not," Federer said.
When Murray's final forehand sailed wide, Federer fell to the grass, tears welling in his eyes.
Later, Federer, whose wife and twin daughters cheered from the players' box, said his family has made a "massive impact on my life."
"To enjoy it now, it's very different than when I was 20 or 25," he said. "I'm in a much more stable place in my life."
For Murray, who hadn't won a set in his previous three major finals, this was progress, even if the loss was "brutal," according to four-time Wimbledon semifinalist Tim Henman.
"He lost to the best player that ever lived, but that's small consolation," said Henman, who knows a thing or two about carrying a nation's hopes on his shoulders.
"I was never conscious of everything that was going on — and thank goodness," said Henman, here commentating for BBC. "It's out of control."
But Henman, like Federer, believes Britain will one day have a homegrown champion.
"It doesn't alter my belief," Henman said of Murray's loss. "I've always said he's going to win multiple Grand Slams, and that hasn't changed."
If parallels between Federer and Sampras are inevitable, it's not only because both men have made Wimbledon their most successful major.
Like Sampras, Federer had been in a major title drought, though not as severe as when then-31-year-old Sampras went 24 months without a title before winning the last of his 14 majors at the 2002 U.S. Open.
Federer's last tasted Grand Slam success at the 2010 Australian Open, but he has hardly been a title afterthought. He has consistently gone deep at majors — including a record 33 consecutive quarterfinals showings.
Last year, he snapped Djokovic's 41-match unbeaten streak to reach the French Open final and squandered two match points against the Serb in the 2011 U.S. Open semifinals.
Federer's coach Paul Annacone, who worked with Sampras from 1995 until Sampras officially retired in 2003, with one short break, couldn't put a number on how many more majors Federer could win. He said the Swiss is fresher mentally than Sampras was at this stage of his career.
"Roger is much more in the middle of his career at 31 than Pete was at 31," Annacone said. "Roger just loves the game and loves the life. His life is the road. He loves it. His family loves it. He loves tennis. He loves who he's become. And I think Pete, with all due respect, at that age was a little bit tired."
Annacone added that the more process-oriented Federer can get psyched up for practice as much as a small tournament. Plus, he has learned to manage his schedule, his rest and his recovery.
"At this stage in their careers the mental drives the physical, unless you really have injury issues," he said. "And his mental state is great."
Federer said he never doubted that he could win majors again, even if the media and others had been predicting his demise.
"Maybe down the stretch," Federer said, "like with Agassi in some ways, you'll be happy that I'm still playing a few years from now."
