Federer Wins Sixth Wimbledon in Seven Years

Roger Federer won his sixth Wimbledon title in seven years by beating Andy Roddick in the Gentlemen's Final.

It took five sets and the fifth set lasted 90 minutes and needed a grand slam record 30 games to complete Federer's triumph.

This match ranks up with last year's Wimbledon Final in which Federer lost a thrilling five set final against Rafael Nadal. The loss snapped his Wimbledon winning streak at five. Regrettably, Nadal withdrew from this year's Wimbledon tournament due to tendonitis in both knees. In recent years, Federer and Nadal have established the greatest rivalry in mens tennis since Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. Well, even in defeat, Roddick made for another worthy rival for Federer.

The win at Wimbledon puts Federer back at the ATP's number one ranking in mens tennis. This triumph also gives Federer 15 career Grand Slam titles surpassing Pete Sampras record of 14. Federer needs one more Wimbledon championship to tie Sampras for the most wins at Wimbledon.

Interestingly, Federer first gained notice when he beat Sampras in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in five sets back in 2001. Sampras had won the tournament four years in a row and was looking to match Bjorn Borg but the then unknown 19-year-old Swiss got in the way. It was the only time they met up and the match represented both Sampras decline and Federer's ascension.

As amazing as Federer's run at Wimbledon his performance at the U.S. Open might be even better. Federer has won the last five U.S. Open tournaments. If he should win again this September he will become the first man to win six U.S. Opens in a row since Bill Tilden did it between 1920 and 1925. Richard Sears won the first seven U.S. Opens between 1881 and 1887.

Needless to say, Federer is in some rarified company. At this point, if Federer isn't the best mens tennis player of all time then who is?