It's Neither Here, Nor There

Roger Federer has always risen to the challenge of tennis’ greatest events, and now finds himself alone at the top of the Mt. Rushmore of the sport. Federer’s victory at Wimbledon puts him one title ahead of Pete Sampras as the all-time grand slam champion.

In order to appreciate Federer’s greatness, it needs to be placed in the most obvious contexts: time, completeness, and consistency.

Federer’s record-breaking title run has only lasted a mere six years. By comparison, Pete Sampras’ fourteen majors were spread over a twelve year period. Last month’s victory at the French Open gave Roger the so-called “Golden Slam,”which puts him in elite company along with Andre Agassi as the only men to win all four majors along with an Olympic gold medal.

Perhaps more impressive than any other feat, the fact that Federer has made an astonishing 21 consecutive grand slam semi-finals.

As great as the story of Federer’s historic achievement is, the man who took Federer to the brink over five sets at the all-England club, Andy Roddick, may be part of an even more impressive narrative.

While we have come to expect great performances from Federer come Sunday at a major, Roddick’s history in grand slam finals has been less than impressive over the last few years. As recognizable as Roddick is to tennis fans, he’s only advanced to one grand slam semi-final in the last three seasons (2007 Australian Open). It’s not that Roddick’s performance had simply declined in grand slams, but across the tournament spectrum. From 2000 until 2005, for example, Roddick won no less than twenty singles titles (including the 2003 US Open). Since 2005, however, Roddick has been the last man standing in seven tournaments.

Roddick’s lack of wins, injuries, and coaching changes turned the rising pro who was the “can’t miss kid” at age nineteen to the “what could have been” solid pro at age twenty-six.

Such circumstances shed that much more light on the greatest performance of Roddick’s career, albeit in a loss, at the Championships at Wimbledon.

Normally, it’d be acceptable to state that the better man clearly won, and that he (Federer) simply had a deeper yearning to be the champion. In the case of Roddick versus Federer, however, it’d be too cliche and simplistic to say that the man who wanted it more won.

Roddick showed guts, plain and simple. Roddick came out against arguably the best tennis player of all-time, had an amazing serve, an impressive return game, and a true desire to win. Roddick may have come up short but history will indeed remember him as the semi-finalist of the 2009 Championships at Wimbledon. Fans across the globe will remember it as the day that the great American hope woke from his slumber.

Undoubtedly, the US Open will be must see tv.