WIMBLEDON: DAY 14

Federer refuses to lose and repeats at Wimbledon
Andy: 'I threw kitchen sink at him but he went to the bathroom and got his tub'

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Photos: Fred & Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA Animation: Ron Cioffi/tr.net

Roger Federer defends his title in four-set final over American Andy Roddick.

Roger Federer continues to defy common wisdom. He doesn't need a coach to tell him how to play or give him a kick in the butt to fire him up. On Sunday, he didn't seem to need much of anything, save for a towel to weep tears of joy into after he repeated as Wimbledon titlist with a spectacular 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over an inspired Andy Roddick.

He has more heart than he's been credit for and if anyone's is still questioning whether the smooth Swiss has fire in his belly, push replay on your VCR.

andy applauds the fed express
"The thing with Roger is that he just makes it look so easy," Roddick said. "But he's really brought it together over the last year mentally. The talent's always been there. Maybe there were some questions about that before. But if you don't buy into it now, then I have to question that."

The final was without question the best level of tennis that we've seen contested in a men's Grand Slam final since Pete Sampras overcame Andre Agassi at the US Open nearly two years ago. Shot making was at a premium where unforced errors were few and far between. It was the Swiss wizard vs. the American cowboy and, in the end, Federer magical wand burned the spurs off Roddick's Stetson's.

"Not only is he fast, but, when he has no play, on it he makes something out of it," Roddick said. "He's unparalleled as far as that skill goes. A couple times he picked them off his shoe strings, they're coming this far off the net, you're hitting another one. Definitely, he's great at doing that and keeping himself alive in points."

The 21-year-old Roddick brought out his best and had a bunch of opportunities to crack the Swiss in the third and fourth sets, but Federer dug deep, focused hard and showed Andy that his "A" game is still missing a plus sign when he's confronting the class genius.

Andy: "I threw kitchen sink at him but he went to the bathroom and got his tub'
"I threw kitchen sink at him but he went to the bathroom and got his tub," Roddick said in the post-match, on-court interview.

Federer got his favorite bath toys, too, like his amazing flat serve out wide to the ad court, his incredibly expanding hooking forehand, his deft volleys and blowtorch crosscourt backhand pass. He has it all and has faith that his weapons won't misfire on big points.

Roddick has improved a ton since last year and it showed against Federer. His second serve is very tough to read, he can now hit his backhand both ways for winners and he's a competent volleyer. But even though Andy was into Federer's service games time and time again, he couldn't come up with the goods when it mattered most.

Yes, the 21-year-old American was unlucky that the rains came when he was up 4-2 in the third set. But, as he himself said, both men has to deal with the circumstances. Federer went into the locker room, talked to a friend about what was occurring and decided to serve and volley more. The change of strategy worked.

Federer broke back to 4-4 with a laser backhand pass that Andy couldn't scoop up. In the tiebreak, Federer (no exaggeration) played perfectly, bombing aces and pulling off two backhand passes on the run that shook Roddick down to his Reeboks.

Roddick kept charging and swinging from the hips in the fourth set and could have broken Federer in the fourth and sixth games, but Federer was forceful with his serves and on three of Roddick's six break points, Roddick missed big forehands. After Roddick netted his final forehand and Federer held to 3-3, it was clear that the Swiss wasn't going to melt. He knew that Roddick would be unable to withdraw his money shot from the ATM and that he more in the tank.

"It's tough when you knock on the door enough times and no one answers," Roddick said. "In all honesty, I felt like I had one bad point there. He came up with some great serves. I had one look at a second serve and I flagged a backhand, which I hadn't really done for almost the whole match. Besides that, he came up with the goods. I made him play a couple times, and I hit the shot I wanted a couple times. So I can only really regret one of those realistically."

RODDICK MISSED GIMME FOREHANDS
When Federer had his first break point opportunity, a slightly depressed Roddick missed a sitter forehand to give Federer to break to 3-4. The ultra-confident Swiss raced home, winning the match on the most eye-popping serve in the game, his flat bomb sharply angled into the ad court. Federer went into a Bjorn Borg-like backbend on Centre Court and less than a minute after, was sobbing on his chair, relieved that his title defense was over and overjoyed that he proved that his heart is just a big as his more outwardly emotional opponent.

"It's always been like this since I've played juniors, that if I get to final just don't want to lose them," said Federer, who's 3-0 in Slam finals. "I do not accept [losses]."

Federer now owns a 7-1 career record against Roddick heading into the summer hardcourt season, that this year, includes the Olympics and the US Open. Roddick says it's not a real rivalry because of his poor record against the Swiss but it was obvious on Sunday that he's gaining significant ground.

"I proved that Roger's not quite invincible," Roddick said. "He's pretty close. I proved a lot to myself today. I thought I took it to him and I played the game the way I wanted to play it. I just came up short. … He's a spectacular player. I can't worry so much about what he's doing when he's not across the net from me. I need to focus on what I need to do to get better, and I will."

Of course, Roddick getting over on Federer on a consistent basis also mean that the 22-year-old Swiss will keep running in place. Guess what, Roger still feels like he could move up another notch at the net. If he does, we may see him challenging Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon titles in 2009.

ROGER WANTS TO IMPOVE NET PLAY
"I feel like I can serve and volley more," Federer said. "It's always been my dream to play better at the net. I'm definitely not bad, but I still feel there is room for improvement."

What he can't improve upon is his perfect record at the majors, where's he won three out of the last five titles. Federer doesn't need a coach to tell him what the bottom line is when he shows up to play the world's most storied events. It's all about the "W."

"It seems like I can get my act together at the right time and stay calm in finals where it's all about," Federer said. "For me, winners stay and losers go. I don't want to be one of them who goes."