Sunday, July 5, 2009
Wimbledon Final provides stunning drama
4:34 AM | 
Posted by
Nick Mendola
It was the most games in Grand Slam final history: 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14.
If tennis could promise Sunday's crowd, match and class in every single event, I don't know that anyone could turn it off.
I awoke about two hours later than I wanted to Sunday morning, afraid that I had missed the mens Wimbledon final, that Roger Federer could've easily dispatched Andy Roddick and picked up an unprecedented 15th Grand Slam title. It wouldn't have bothered me a ton -- I've been rooting for Roddick since he picked up Jimmy Connors as a mentor, but Federer is all-class, all-the-time, and it's hard to have anything against the Swiss legend.
Yet sometime during the fifth set, my DVR turned into my enemy. When a match has gone this many games, surely even non-tennis fans like the majority of my friends would be chiming in with texts. Would pausing the final to head to Noon Church cripple my chances of watching this knowledge-free?
It could've, except they kept going, and going, and going. Roddick was outstanding, and the will power and perseverence of both competitors... well, it was impossible to turn away. I cannot imagine facing down perhaps the greatest player of a generation and maybe longer -- in any sport -- and continue to respond, continue to push it as far as I could. Roddick did that.
At this point, I should point out that I'm not a huge tennis fan. I watch the Grand Slams, and the occasional tournament final if the story is good, which to be fair, John McEnroe makes most events sound perfect. Today, I'm glad for that, because witnessing this final was intense, and justice would not have been served should I have been watching highlights on Sportscenter.
In the end, Federer was and is the greatest -- and that's fine -- but Roddick's post-match tears were the focal point of the day for me. Federer was pushed to the limit by an American who took care of Britain's finest hope at Wimbledon just a few days beforehand, meaning Queen Elizabeth II would not be attending the final between Roddick and the Swiss timepiece.
The queen stayed home, the king held serve, but Roddick's jester was the real show. He won some lifelong fans Sunday.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
If tennis could promise Sunday's crowd, match and class in every single event, I don't know that anyone could turn it off.
I awoke about two hours later than I wanted to Sunday morning, afraid that I had missed the mens Wimbledon final, that Roger Federer could've easily dispatched Andy Roddick and picked up an unprecedented 15th Grand Slam title. It wouldn't have bothered me a ton -- I've been rooting for Roddick since he picked up Jimmy Connors as a mentor, but Federer is all-class, all-the-time, and it's hard to have anything against the Swiss legend.
Yet sometime during the fifth set, my DVR turned into my enemy. When a match has gone this many games, surely even non-tennis fans like the majority of my friends would be chiming in with texts. Would pausing the final to head to Noon Church cripple my chances of watching this knowledge-free?
It could've, except they kept going, and going, and going. Roddick was outstanding, and the will power and perseverence of both competitors... well, it was impossible to turn away. I cannot imagine facing down perhaps the greatest player of a generation and maybe longer -- in any sport -- and continue to respond, continue to push it as far as I could. Roddick did that.
At this point, I should point out that I'm not a huge tennis fan. I watch the Grand Slams, and the occasional tournament final if the story is good, which to be fair, John McEnroe makes most events sound perfect. Today, I'm glad for that, because witnessing this final was intense, and justice would not have been served should I have been watching highlights on Sportscenter.
In the end, Federer was and is the greatest -- and that's fine -- but Roddick's post-match tears were the focal point of the day for me. Federer was pushed to the limit by an American who took care of Britain's finest hope at Wimbledon just a few days beforehand, meaning Queen Elizabeth II would not be attending the final between Roddick and the Swiss timepiece.
The queen stayed home, the king held serve, but Roddick's jester was the real show. He won some lifelong fans Sunday.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
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