Historic Grand Slam

Switzerland's Roger Federer defeated American Andy Roddick in a five set duel which saw them through two tie-breakers and a marathon 30 game sudden death final set.

Roddick held his his serve 10 times before eventually going down 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14 in more than four hours of nail-biting grass court action at Wimbledon on Sunday.

Federer needed four hours and 16 minutes to beat Roddick in the final, finishing with 50 aces and converting his only break of the match in the final game.

Federer set up two new records with Sunday's victory. The 30 games in the fifth set established a record for the most games played in any set in a Wimbledon singles final.

And, more importantly, the 27-year-old Swiss now stands alone as the winner of 15 grand slam titles, after sharing the record of 14 with American Pete Sampras, who watched the match from the Royal Box on Centre Court.

The victory also means that Federer will push past Rafael Nadal and back to the top of the ATP rankings. Nadal won the title at the All England Club last year, but skipped this year's tournament because of a knee injury.

Last month, Federer joined Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Andre Agassi as a winner of all four majors when he claimed his first French Open title.

nk/dpa/ap/Reuters
Editor: Kateri Jochum