Federer's record 5th Wimbledon win

I was waiting for the final to start at 4 p.m. Romanian time (2 p.m. BST) - fortunately the Satander British Grandprix's results was clear by the time the match started - After holding the serve in the first service game, Fedex broke Rafa's service game and then held on to race to 3-0. At that point, I was thinking that it is the end of the road for Rafa and Fedex, the King on grass is going to put up a much better performance than his quarter final against Juan Carlos Ferrero which he won in four sets. But, Rafa did not let the championship to go by and broke Fedex to take the first set to tie break. Fedex though failed to convert his first 3 set points, finally converted to take the set.

Rafa mixed up his volleys very well and I couldn't believe myself after seeing this guy play this way. I was under the impression that he would be an easy meat to Fedex. He broke Fedex when he was serving to stay in the set and won the second set 6-4. The third one was interestingly poised and in the tie breaker, Fedex mixed his serves well and won it comfortably. Again, at this point, Fedex proved to be supreme and the way he was progressing gave an impression that he would take the championships in four sets. But, Rafa had other plans. He broke first and then again, this time, the Hawkeye irking Fedex to take the set 6-2 and taking the championship to the fifth set. C'mon guys - I was planning to take Indu & Pranav for shopping and had asked the driver to come home at 7.30 p.m. hoping Fedex will complete in 4 sets. It was 7.15 p.m. and both me and Indu did not have any plans for shopping. We even thought to send the car back. Into the final set, I initially thought the way these guys go, it would not be settled in the maximum 12 games and would go further.

There the genius in Fedex rose and broke Rafa to take a lead in the final set. He again broke Rafa to win the final set 6-2, thus allowing us to leave at 8 p.m. for shopping. The line umpire then announced what we have heard in the last four years - Game, Set, Match & Championship : Roger Federer. It was a great win and he has equalled Bjorn Borg. Will he be able to break Borg's record is a question which I have started pondering on. I can't wait till next summer to see the showdown between Fedex, who should go for his sixth straight Wimbledon crown and a much improved Rafa !

Fedex after having taken 11 titles forces me to compare him with Pete Sampras. Both are champions during their peak. I don't fully agree with Nirmal Shekar that Sampras would have been better on grass than Fedex. Sampras had to meet great opponents like Agassi, Boris Becker, Ivanisevic and Rafter, but then Philippoussis, Roddick and Nadal are also great. Philippoussis with his serves could frustrate you and so is Nadal, when he proved on 8th July 2007. But, Fedex has stamped his class even in clay, when he reached the finals of French Open, where Pete could not go beyond 4th round.