How Pete Sampras Reacted To His Grand Slam Record Being Broken By Roger Federer

On July 5, 2009, Roger Federer won one of the most historically significant matches ever in tennis when he defeated Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon final.

The match in itself was historic in that it was the longest final – in games – in Wimbledon history, Federer winning by a dramatic scoreline of 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6, 16-14. The match lasted four hours and 16 minutes, including a 95-minute fifth set, and Federer hit a personal record of 50 aces. But the win for Federer marked his 15^th major singles title, making him the all-time men’s leader in that category, moving him past Pete Sampras, who attended the final in Royal Box on Centre Court along with fellow tennis legends Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver.

“I am happy that I was able the break the Grand Slam record. Wimbledon is the tournament that always meant the most to me,” said Federer after the final

 Roddick, who lost to Federer in the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals, nearly went up two-sets-to-love in the match, leading by a set and 5-1 in the second-set tie-breaker and held four set points in the tie-breaker, losing a critical one at 6-5 with a botched backhand volley into an open court. Wrote Bud Collins in The Bud Collins History of Tennis book, “The Yank might have won had he not bungled a set point volley in the tricky breeze that would have given him a two-set lead. Roger lifted himself from 1-5 in that tie-breaker, cancelling four set points, the Roddick-haunting one at 6-5, the misplayed volley. Never has such brutal serving illuminated a major final. They fireballed each other, scorching the court – Federer with 50 aces (a personal high), Roddick with 27 – while they crafted the lengthiest of major finals. Their 77 games topped the 71 consumed by Gerald Patterson in overcoming Jack Hawkes to seize the Australian trophy 82 years before. It was also a Wimbledon record, surpassing Nadal and Federer’s 62 games, merely 12 months previously.” 

The match is featured in Steve Flink’s authoritative book “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” (for sale and download here: https://a.co/d/fmRF1zV) and Flink spoke with the classy and often humble Sampras in the chapter on the Federer – Roddick Wimbledon final and his commentary on the match and his record being broken is excerpted from the book here

The long journey from California for Sampras had ultimately been worth it. He had been there in person to watch Federer break his record, a gracious gesture for the American to make. He congratulated Federer afterwards, demonstrating no resentment, reaffirming his respect for a player he held in the highest regard. And yet, while Sampras was delighted that Federer had prevailed, he was also very sympathetic to Roddick. He fully understood his fellow American’s immense pain in the aftermath of a contest that seemed headed into the Roddick victory column.

Speaking of his trip back to Wimbledon, Sampras said, “It was the right thing for me to do to go. I wanted to be there out of respect for Roger. The fact that we are pretty good friends certainly added to it. Being back there brought back a lot of great memories for me. Seeing Roger break the record made people ask me if I was rooting against him, and I really wasn’t. I think all of us—Laver, Borg and myself— were kind of wanting Andy to win the match because it would have been his first Wimbledon title. Andy was working so hard and sitting behind him we could see the strain on his face, while Roger always looks so cool. Roddick was so close and he just slipped for about fifteen seconds in the second-set tiebreaker and that gave Roger a bit of breathing room.

“We all felt bad for Andy,“ Sampras continued. “This was his one shot really to be assured of a Hall of Fame career. To beat Roger on that court would have solidified his career. It is not that he hasn’t had a very good career, but winning Wimbledon over Roger would have added a ton to what he has been able to do, and he came up just short. At the same time, Roger has been a great champion. I have said many times that if somebody is going to break my record I would like it to be him. So it was a great moment for the sport having myself and Rod and Bjorn all there in the Centre Court to see it. You won’t have many moments like that in tennis.”