In 2009, Andy Roddick had what would ultimately be his last shot at winning the Wimbledon title.
The American had reached back-to-back finals at the All England Club in 2004 and 2005, but lost to Roger Federer on both occasions.
Roddick met Federer once again four years later and came agonisingly close to overcoming the Swiss Maestro, but could not get over the line.
He was beaten in five sets, losing the decider 16-14, which was the longest fifth set ever in a men’s major singles final.
Despite the brutal defeat, Roddick displayed class and respect when he faced the media after the match, and claimed there was one thing Federer did against him that he never received credit for.
Andy Roddick’s words from 2009 about Roger Federer
When asked in his press conference what qualities make Federer so great, Roddick said: “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know where to start there.
“You know, he just makes it real tough. You know, he was having trouble picking up my serve today for the first time ever. He just stayed the course.
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“You didn’t even get a sense that he was even really frustrated by it. He kind of stayed the course and just toughed it out.
“He gets a lot of credit for a lot of things, but not a lot of the time is how many matches he kind of digs deep and toughs out.
“He doesn’t get a lot of credit for that because it looks easy to him a lot of the time. But he was definitely stuck in there today.”
Andy Roddick suggested he could have won if Roger Federer didn’t serve so well
Roddick produced an incredible performance against Federer, and suggested he could have clinched a maiden Wimbledon title had his conqueror not served so well.
“He served great,” said Roddick. I didn’t get a lot of looks at seconds. I felt like when we were in rallies for the last couple of sets, I was actually doing all right and holding my own, if not more.
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“You know, but he just served great. He did what he had to. If he wouldn’t have served as well, I’d probably be sitting here in a better mood.”
After 2009, Roddick failed to make it past the fourth round of Wimbledon and recorded a third-round finish in his last campaign in SW19 during the 2012 season.
He did, however, manage to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the US Open in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
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