Federer masters field for first major title

WIMBLEDON, England --Roger Federer is not for the martini-and-sports car set, or for the tabloid gossip hounds, or even for the armchair sports junkies. He is strictly a tennis player's tennis player, an artist of the game who does nothing radically but everything beautifully.

In the Wimbledon final Sunday, he composed a masterpiece.

There were audacious forehands blended with fluttering volleys, large bold strokes staggered with sharp stabs of serves. By the time he laid the finishing touches on a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) win over Australian Mark Philippoussis, Federer did the only appropriate thing in the face of great art -- he wept -- and many in the sellout crowd of 13,810 cried right along with him.

"This is an absolute dream for me; I was always joking as a boy I'm going to win this, and now ... " he said as he teared up again, holding the trophy aloft for the fans. He had been projected to win a Grand Slam since upsetting Pete Sampras on these grounds two years ago, and to come through at the age of 21 was more than he could handle.

"I never thought it was possible," he said, drawing another enormous ovation.

It wasn't an expected reaction from a crowd that had largely supported his hard-serving, hard-partying opponent, a 6-foot-4 Goliath made even more compelling by his comeback from three knee surgeries. But despite an off-court manner as precise and clinical as one of the watches from his native Switzerland, Federer strung together rallies of such stirring imagination even the fans carrying plastic kangaroos on their shoulders had to gasp in awe.

He racked racked up 50 winners to just nine errors, and by the time he walked off the court, some were comparing him to seven-time winner Sampras. It's a flattering association, but not exact, as Andy Roddick explained after being blasted by Federer in the semifinals on Friday.

"They both serve, they both volley, they can do everything pretty well, but Roger plays a little bit more, then he picks his shot," Roddick said. "Maybe he's a little bit more patient, whereas Pete was on you all the time, all the time, all the time."

It was that relentlessness that made Sampras so successful; Federer on the other hand, has sometimes been guilty of laying back far too long. He is known on Tour for having a hard time coming from behind in a match, and while his strokes have always been graceful, his focus has often been scattered.

Last year here, he lost in the first round to a qualifier, and this year, he looked unlikely to get out of the fourth round after suffering back spasms. But Federer fought out of that match, beating Feliciano Lopez in straight sets, and his quarterfinal and semifinal victories were dominant. By the time he walked onto court Sunday, he seemed to be gliding across the grass, especially compared to Philippoussis's lurching stride.

"I wouldn't say it was my best match out there," said Philippoussis, who may have used up much of his energy getting to the final. He has been dogged by knee problems since reaching the quarterfinals of this tournament in 1999, having three surgeries and countless stints of rehabilitation.

He's also gone through several sets of girlfriends, houses and cars, although in the past year, he's seemed to settle down somewhat. He is now a dedicated early-morning surfer, and with his mind calm and his legs strong, he rattled plenty of players here, including Andre Agassi, whom he beat in the fourth round.

In that match, he unleashed 46 aces to tie a Wimbledon record. But against Federer, he managed just 14, forcing him to work harder in his own service games than he had all tournament; and on Federer's serve he was nearly helpless, failing to reach break point in the match.

When he double-faulted in the first-set tiebreak, he set the tone for the rest. At the start of the second set, he lost four games in a row. By the third set, he appeared all but defeated. "He came out and was just on momentum from the first set, and it showed, I think," Philippoussis said.

The Australian made one brief stab at a comeback, fighting off two break points to force a final tiebreak, but some clumsy volleys gave Federer a 6-1 advantage, and three points later, Wimbledon had a new champion.

Affable in defeat, Philippoussis pledged, "I'll definitely be back, that's for sure. This is only the beginning."

But it was Federer whose game really showed promise, not just for its purity but also for its newfound grit.

"I thought I had to throw in the white towel, but somehow I came through, and my back got better and my game got better and I'm just so happy," Federer said as the tears came one last time. "Thanks to everybody. This is great."