Roger Federer and Serena Williams Win 2009 Wimbledon Singles Titles

roger federer of switzerland defeated american andy roddick in a thrilling duel lasting over four hours, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 to win his sixth wimbledon men's singles title. this was the seventh consecutive year federer reached the men's final. more importantly, the historic victory was his 15th grand slam singles title, surpassing the record formerly held by the hall-of-fame american pete sampras' 14. the stylish swiss also regains the #1 spot on the men's tour, moving past his younger & currently injured rival rafael nadal of spain.

the unlikely final pair set tournament records for most total games in a championship match, 77, as well as most games in the fifth set, 30. ironically it took the last game of the match for federer to finally be able to break roddick's serve, clocked as high as 143 mph. federer finished the day with a personal best 50 aces & 107 winners. on the last point when roddick's forehand reply went awry ino the sky, the normally placid federer leaped triumphantly in the air, knowing he'd made history witnessed by several former champions who were present - bjorn borg, rod laver, ilie nastase, pete sampras & manuel santana.

no one expected roddick to reach the final, as all the british hopes were square on the muscular shoulders of 22 year-old upstart andy murray, who, i must note, tho english fans don't seem to care, is a scotland native. everyone, except roddick, that is, wanted a murray-federer final. murray has a 6-2 record against the brilliant shot maker & was confident of his chances if they were to meet again. while federer defeated murray in the '08 us open final some folks say the supremely talented scot will be the next #1 player. however, in a wonderful display of all-court controlled aggression, roddick defeated murray in four hard-fought sets.

serena williams defeated older sistah venus williams 7-6, 6-3 to win her third wimbledon women's singles crown. all three wins have come against her hard-hitting sistah, who has five all-england trophies of her own. the well-played victory now gives serena 11 grand slam singles titles, trailing only chris evert (18), martina navratilova (18) & steffi graf (22), all of whom are in the hall-of-fame. venus, with her two us open wins, has amassed seven grand slam titles.

these two amazing african-american women were born & raised in compton, california. they are both humble humanitarians whose athleticism, determination & power on the court belie their class, dignity & selflessness off the court. usually they both struggle in the first week of a grand slam tournament to find their form, yet neither sistah dropped a set on their way to what most folks expected - their fourth wimbledon final against each other. also, this was the 21st time they've played together professionally, with serena now holding an 11-10 edge.

after the closely contested first-set tiebreak, serena settled down & venus started to make a few more unforced errors, particularly from her vulnerable forehand wing. interestingly enuf, the polite english crowd never shows favoritism when these two champions square off, tho it was clear when venus broke serena's serve in the eighth game of the second set they wanted to see more tennis. displaying maturity, poise & steadfastness, serena held serve to hoist the coveted trophy, which she last held in 2003. the williams sistahs also took home the doubles title, defeating australians samantha stosur & rennae stubbs in straight sets.