Andy Roddick of U.S. throws himself at a shot from Andy Murray of Britain, during their men's singles semifinal on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, Friday, July 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
(AP)
"Sometimes," he said, "it's not fair towards certain players."
Federer then lost to Nadal in the French Open and Wimbledon finals, and fell to No. 2 in the rankings after a record 237 weeks at the top. But Federer won a fifth consecutive U.S. Open in September and, after a five-set loss to Nadal in the Australian Open final in January, completed a career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open title last month.
That allowed him to tie Sampras with 14 major championships.
"Records are part of this great match right now," Federer said, looking ahead to Sunday, "so it's obviously even more of an incentive to try really hard."
Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open, but he is one of the many unfortunate souls who chose to play tennis for a living and happened to have been born around the same time as Federer: Roddick will turn 27 in August, a few weeks after Federer turns 28.
Roddick is 2-18 against Federer over their careers. That includes 0-7 at Grand Slam tournaments, 0-3 at Wimbledon, with losses to Federer in the 2003 semifinals and 2004 and 2005 finals at the All England Club. Roddick also lost to Federer in the 2006 U.S. Open title match.
"He never gives up. It hasn't been easy for him the last few years. Americans have a lot of expectations. They were spoiled with Sampras and (Andre) Agassi and all those before that. For them, it's not good enough to have someone in the top 10; they want somebody who is No. 1," Federer said. "It's great to see him back in a final."
Roddick hit 43 aces against Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals and reached a tournament-high 143 mph against No. 3 Andy Murray in the semifinals.
"I always said that serve makes him so dangerous. No matter what surface you play him on, no matter where you play him, how bad the record is for him, he'll always have that shot," Federer said. "He not only has a great first serve, but probably has the best second serve in the game. That's what makes it hard to break him."
