Then we remembered who was on the other side. Roger Federer is not like the rest of us. He has just one weakness, kryptonite named Rafael Nadal, but in the long view, he overcomes kryptonite by never fading away.
Remember last year, after Wimbledon, when it was said that he'd lost his touch? Make way for the era of Nadal, we were told. Since that Wimbledon final, which he was two points from winning, Federer has won three of four Grand Slams.
This, truth be told, is still Roger Federer's time. And here he has just played yet another match that will stand the test of time. In men's tennis at Wimbledon, Sunday's match now sits right beside all the other greatest, most memorable ones. Beside Bjorn Borg beating John McEnroe in 1980. Beside 41-year-old Pancho Gonzales turning back young Charlie Pasarell, taking 5 hours and 12 minutes in the first round in 1969. Beside, among a handful of other matches, Andre Agassi's startling five-set win over Goran Ivanisevic in the 1992 final.
But that's the long view. The shorter view, focused on just this last final, speaks solely to the immediate brilliance of two men.
It "could have gone on for a few more hours I think," Federer said when the 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 epic was done.
The way these two were playing -- Roddick never backing off, Federer scratching and clawing and defending -- a few more hours of tennis seemed a possibility. Every time one man came close, the other turned him back. Remember that there were, aside from the set points Roddick lost early on, two break points saved by Federer in the middle chapter of the fifth set.
If Federer had lost just one of those fifth-set points, Roddick probably would have won. What a story that would have been. But this wasn't that kind of story: a thrilling, long-march upset that would finish somewhat conventionally.
No, this was Shakespeare. On and on and on they went.
We watched in awe, surprised as it became clear 2009 was mirroring 2008, which mirrored 2007.
We watched in agony, hearts heavy and sad as Andy Roddick bowed his head after that final miss.
We watched in joy, marveling at a beautiful performance from the greatest men's champion of all time, a man who has delivered the sublime and supreme for so long it is now hard to remember life without Roger Federer. For tennis fans, for sports fans, for fans of drama, skill and guts, what great luck.
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kurt.streeter@latimes.com
