How perfect was it that we had all American finalists on our Independence Day during a tournament held in England? Very perfect. It had all the makings for the perfect birthday gift to our dear country, pristine Wimbledon trophies and bragging rights for another year. As an infant, the United States conquered Great Britain and we were going to repeat history 233 years later: only this time, on their turf. Oh yeah.
During the course of two weeks, the young hopefuls and old has-beens were weeded out of the perfectly manicured grass courts until only the best remained. And on our glorious Fourth of July, victory would be ours, Lady Liberty. Venus and Serena Williams, No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, would battle it out for the Ladies' singles title, only hours before teaming up against Samantha Stosur and Rennea Stubbs for the women's doubles championship. Meanwhile, identical twin brothers and 2006 Wimbledon champs, Bob and Mike Bryan reached the men's doubles final against Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic.
All this superiority in one day and a follow-up match the next day with Andy Roddick in the men's singles final on July 5. Hey, we beat Britain in 1776, we'll beat 'em again in 2009.
Or so was our mentality. Unfortunately, the Williams were the only ones who could deliver. More Serena than Venus, though, as Serena Williams beat the pants (er ... dress) off her older sister 7-6, 6-2. Come on, Venus Williams, you've won this slam five times already -¡- including the last two years. I would think you're capable of putting up a better fight than that. And not only does she have more Wimbledon championships, but she also holds the world record serve speed for women of 127 mph, yet was broken how many times? Disappointing to say the least.
But to say the most, Serena Williams played extremely well the entire tournament, only dropping one set. Definitely not an unworthy opponent.
And Venus Williams eventually got it together for the doubles final where the sisters spanked Stosur and Stubbs with a score of 7-6, 6-4
So with all that patriotic potential, our Daughters of Liberty were the ones to follow through. Because after Venus and Serena Williams went head-to-head on Centre Court, the Bryans suffered a terrible defeat with a score of 6-7, 7-6, 6-7, 3-6
The most disappointing American downfall, though came from No. 6 seed Andy Roddick. Roddick, going for his second major title and second major upset at the 2009 Wimbledon, faced Roger Federer, a man who can only be defeated by one man, Rafael Nadal (who had to sacrifice his opportunity to steal yet another title from Federer because of some weak knees). And, let's be honest, the only reason Roddick made it to the final is because of Nadal's absence. Otherwise he probably would have lost in the first week. Again. Of course, that may not be entirely true since Roddick displayed more talent than we are used to seeing in the semifinals where he beat the heavy favorite, No. 3 seed Andy Murray.
I remember just hoping that Roddick could get a set on Federer. Come on, just a set. Not only did A-Rod get the first set, 7-5, he also took the second and third to tiebreakers, but eventually, lost to Federer. With most likely slight shock from Federer that Roddick was actually keeping up - Roddick took the fourth set 6-3.
Another fifth set final. Will Federer suffer the same fate he did in the 2008 final, losing the epic match in the end and claiming the shameful silver tray rather than the golden trophy? Will Roddick fill Nadal's shoes? Will he prove that he's not a one-hit wonder? It would take an hour and 35 minutes to find out.
Federer and Roddick stayed neck-and-neck, never breaking the other's service games. The score easily surpassed 6 all and, without a tiebreaker, there was no end in sight.
The score reached 10 all. Neither could break the other. 12 all. 13 all. 14 all. Then it came. One game determined the entire match, the entire championship. The one game in the entire 75 game (plus tiebreakers) match that Roddick couldn't hold gave Federer his 15th major title. Ugh, the heartbreak!
It's hard, though, to be bitter about it. Federer is undeniably the better player and undeniably among the greatest players in the history of the game. The win was well-deserved ... even if he did steal the record for most major titles from Pete Sampras.
Mia Hanneken is a sophomore magazine major and writes 'Messages from Mia' for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Mia at mehanneken@bsu.edu
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