Sunday's Wimbledon men's final between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick nabbed the second highest television ratings for a tennis match since 2000. Only 2008's classic Rafael Nadal-Federer final was seen by more people. And while the entire day seemed like a coronation for Federer, it might have been just as an important day for the match loser, Roddick.
The past five years has been rough for American tennis fans. As Pete Sampras relinquished his throne and Andre Agassi faded, American tennis fans were left without a start player to cheer for, for the first time in a long time. In the 70s and 80s we did not always have to love Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, but at least these dominant players were ours and they won, a lot.
Roddick came on the tennis scene as Sampras was wrapping up his career. He had everything you need to be a star player: the game, the looks and he is an engaging interviewee. 2003 was Roddick's break-out year as he won the US Open and reached the No 1 ranking in November of that same year. His future looked fantastic, but then he went in reverse.
Over the next five years Roddick battled injury and became a good-but-not-great player. He was the best the US had, but he never really seriously challenged Federer for the top spot in the world.
When Roddick beat Andy Murray in the semi-finals to set up Sunday's final versus Federer, to be honest, I did not expect a ton from Roddick. I know that Federer is not the dominator he was two years ago, but common wisdom had him handling Roddick on the way to his 15th grand slam title.
What Roddick did do on Sunday is delay the inevitable crowning of Federer by pushing him to five sets, including a 16-14 marathon final set. He had chances. Roddick was up two break points when it was 8-8 in the fifth. Federer scored two quick points to bring it to deuce and two more to hold serve. That was as close as he got.
When Federer ended it, our coverage in America showed a triumphant champ but also showed a dejected, spent Roddick sitting there having to watch the adulation pour over Federer. Then, if you looked close, Roddick looked choked up. He gave everything he had against the man who owns Wimbledon, the man who beat Roddick at Wimbledon in 2004, 2005 and now in 2009. The look on his face to me said 'what else can I do to win here?to beat him?'.
The Wimbledon patrons, to their credit, gave Roddick a huge ovation for his effort and for making this already-special day even more memorable. Roddick may have even topped his performance with his gracious comments to the crowd just moments after the loss. He congratulated Federer, he acknowledged Rod Laver, Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg who were in attendance. Then he mustered a joke to Sampras, whose grand slam record Federer just broke.
"I tried to hold him off for you Pete," he said.
Roddick did not hold off Federer. Not many people have. What he did do Sunday is to push one of the all-time greats to the breaking point. He showed that he cared about winning and that he could be dignified in losing. He gave tennis fans worldwide a great show, but, even more so, he gave American sports fans a multitude of reasons to watch and cheer again.
ppabst@thenational.ae
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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RESULTS
2pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m. Winner: Masaali, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer).
2.30pm: Handicap Dh 76,000 (D) 1,400m. Winner: Almoreb, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
3pm: Handicap Dh 64,000 (D) 1,200m. Winner: Imprison, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.
3.30pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh 100,000 (D) 1,000m. Winner: Raahy, Adrie de Vries, Jaber Ramadhan.
4pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (D) 1,000m. Winner: Cross The Ocean, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
4.30pm: Handicap 64,000 (D) 1,950m. Winner: Sa’Ada, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash.
Tonight's Chat on The National
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MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1
Alonso (62')
Huddersfield Town 1
Depoitre (50')
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
The specs: 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Price, base: Dh138,000 (estimate)
Engine: 60kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed Electronic Precision Shift
Power: 204hp
Torque: 360Nm
Range: 520km (claimed)
Lampedusa: Gateway to Europe
Pietro Bartolo and Lidia Tilotta
Quercus
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Hidden killer
Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
Stats at a glance:
Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)
Number in service: 6
Complement 191 (space for up to 285)
Top speed: over 32 knots
Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles
Length 152.4 m
Displacement: 8,700 tonnes
Beam: 21.2 m
Draught: 7.4 m