Federer Won The Battle, Roddick Won Hearts

This year's Wimbledon final had a tough act to follow from 2008, but boy did it deliver. Federer created tennis history with his 15th Grand Slam title, and living legends such as Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, and John McEnroe were there to witness it.

Even better was the match itself.

Roddick, 2-18 against Federer coming into the match, played fearlessly to stretch Federer to a fifth set and was never broken throughout the match until it was 15-14 in that final set. The words Federer, Roddick, and fifth set have never been used in a sentence together until today!

The 2009 version of Roddick has been a revelation, and marvelous to observe.

He has always been a classy loser, with the most humorous of comments even after a heartbreaking loss. Who can forget his memorable "I threw Federer the kitchen sink, but he went into the bathroom and found the tub" comment? The 2009 version has not lost that trait. After Federer tried to console Andy by saying that he too had suffered a five-set loss last year, Andy retorted in mock indignation "You won five before that!"

But the 2009 Roddick is much more than a lovable one-liner. The 2009 version has overlaid Andy's traditional strength—his serve—with grit, better movement, a credible backhand return, and superior fitness as evidenced by the loss of 15 pounds in the offseason.

All of this has allowed the public to once again witness the full spectacle of Andy's most valuable trait—his heart.

From the five-setter win against Hewitt in the quarters, to the four-set "upset" of Murray in the semis, and to today's classic against Federer, Andy has fought back, bloodied but unbowed, to regain the public's respect after two years of fairly indifferent results.

Who could have blamed him for slowly fading into insignificance? How de-motivating it must have been for him to live in the shadow of the Federer era, and over the last two to three years seen the emergence of a new generation spearheaded by Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic bypass him as well!

Roddick was clearly in danger of being known simply as a one-hit wonder. One Grand Slam title. One year-end ranking of No. 1. One key trick—an incredible serve. 

It might have been a lot simpler to have gotten married, and faded off into the sunset to enjoy newfound marital bliss, leaving all the scraping for Grand Slam titles behind.

But instead Roddick has shown his true character, and chosen to put in the hard work to make himself relevant once again, and to re-invent himself, with great results so far this year. Once he has put the immediate disappointment of the Wimbledon finals behind him, there are plenty of positives for him to feel proud of. And to leave him extremely confident for the upcoming US Open.

Roddick will never be Sampras-like, clinically racking up title after title. That accolade belongs to Federer, the new king of Grand Slams.

But Roddick has a real chance to be Agassi-like, in terms of making the unlikeliest of comebacks and inspiring the adoration of neutrals. Based on today's display and the past six months, I will assert that Roddick has two more Grand Slam titles in him. It will be fun to watch him win them!