(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
The only thing that will last longer than Sunday's fifth set at Wimbledon is the memory of another epic gentlemen's final. That's why we've enlisted the opinions of Bleacher Report's top tennis analysts to weigh in on five burning questions, one for each set, following Roddick vs. Federer. As Long John Silver, Rohini Iyer, J.A. Allen, and Rob York pull up a chair at Trey's Table, I encourage you to visit their pages for more top-notch tennis coverage.
1. In light of last year's championship, and given that Nadal could not participate in 2009, could anyone have anticipated a better Wimbledon final? Where is its place in history?
York: I wrote earlier in the week that for this year’s final to match last year’s we needed Andy Murray in the final, and many of my fellow Bleacher Creatures were in agreement. Roddick, for all his accomplishments, was not the equal of Federer or Nadal. How wrong we were.
I don’t think this match will be as highly regarded as last year’s but it would have to rank in the top five Wimbledon finals of all time, certainly.
Allen: It will rank high in all future discussions of five-set Wimbledon finals. I give it the number four spot. The feeling before the match was that Federer was a lock, but that was not the case. The action was tense and exciting and the tennis was superlative. Memorable match.
No. 1 - Bjorn Borg vs. John McEnroe 1980
No. 2 - Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer 2008
No. 3 – Goran Ivanisevic vs. Pat Rafter 2001
No. 4 – Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick 2009
No. 5 – Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal 2007
No. 6 – Stefan Edberg vs. Boris Becker 1990
Silver: For the most part, no, we could not have anticipated that showing. Even after yesterday, I am not sure we can compare the finals last year and this year.
Last year was more astonishing baseline rallies. This year was more classic grass court serve and return tennis. They were different match ups and it felt very different. In history, I think it is up there with one of the most important matches Federer has won in his career, may be top six or top seven.
Iyer: No it couldn’t have; the match in my opinion was a perfect roller coaster of emotions and drama, the pendulum oscillating between both the players equally. Each and every fan watching the match from their TV sets or straight sitting in the stands would have felt his heart beating a violent tattoo against his chest—the octane pumping from both ends made us slip constantly to the edge of our seats.
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