Federer refused to cooperate, saving several of his most spectacular shots for the seventh game of the final set, when he broke for a 4-3 lead. Three passing shots won points, and he smacked one return so hard it sailed between the legs of an onrushing Roddick. Reaching behind him, Roddick somehow managed to block the ball back, but Federer put away his next shot.
Roddick stayed even only until the match's sixth game, when he made the mistake of hitting an overhead back to Federer, who yanked it crosscourt for a winner. That gave the Swiss a break point, which he converted.
Federer broke again to take the first set. After winning 20 of his first 21 service points, he was broken for the only time and fell behind 3-1 in the second set.
Federer broke back for 3-all. Roddick overcame two set points serving at 4-5, but in the tiebreaker he quickly fell behind, and when the deficit reached 5-2, he slammed his racket to the grass.
He shouldn't have been so hard on himself: In the first two sets, Federer hit 33 winners with just three unforced errors.
Federer improved to 7-1 in tiebreakers against Roddick, who has won one of 10 sets in their three Wimbledon showdowns.
For his 30th career title, Federer received ?630,000 (US$1,115,100). Roddick settled for ?315,000 (US$557,550).
RSS