Roger Federer and Andy Roddick walk out to huge applause from the Centre Court crowd before the start of the 2009 men's singles final
After three games, pre-match rumours prove true as Wimbledon legend Pete Sampras enters the Royal Box to see if Federer can move past the record of 14 Grand Slam titles which they currently share
Sampras (front row, second left) is part of an amazing array of champions as he sits with (left to right) Manuel Santana, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg while Ilie Nastase is in the second row (far right)
Roddick is renowned as the best server in the game and he knows his greatest chance of a shock victory will come if he can maintain his usual consistency and speed throughout the match
Federer is chasing a record 15th Grand Slam victory and sixth Wimbledon title and the first set is a tight affair, going with serve for the first 11 games, although Federer fails to take four break points in the last of those
But in the 12th game Roddick earns his first break point of the match - and it is enough for him to take the set 7-5. Are we on for a shock here?
Federer has a real game on his hands here but he fails to break through in the second set which does not feature a break point and goes to a tie-break
Roddick (far end) has a phenomenal tie-break record this year and opens up a 6-2 lead - giving him four points for a two-set lead
But Federer suddenly hits back - wiinning six points in a row to take the tie-break 8-6 and level the match at one-set apiece
Losing the second set in that fashion is a bitter blow to Roddick, who leaves the court for a toilet break and returns for the third set which also goes by without a break of serve
This time it is Federer who opens up a lead in the tie-break of 6-3. Roddick saves two set points but cannot prevent the third as Federer takes charge of the match
Roddick is not discouraged by falling behind in the match - in fact it seems to reinvigorate him as he ups his game and breaks in the fourth game of the fourth set to lead 3-1
Although Roddick takes a tumble in the eighth game, luckily he is unhurt and he gets up before going on to wrap up the set 6-3 to make it two-sets all. What a match this is turning out to be
Film director Woody Allen (left) and actor Russell Crowe (centre) are lucky enough to be among the 15,000 crowd for what is turning out to be another classic final
It is anyone's match now and both players hold serve confidently in the opening stages of the decisive fifth set. Someone will need to break to clinch the title though
And the match, now lasting over three hours, comes down to pairs of two-game shoot-outs as the set score moves to 6-6. There is no tie-break in the fifth set, in which neither player has dropped serve
This extraordinary match keeps on going and reaches 11-11 in the final set. Another interested spectator is Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson
Finally after four hours 17 minutes the first break of the set occurs - and it is Federer who makes it to win the set 16-14 and secure a record 15th Grand Slam title
Federer consoles Roddick at the net after an epic encounter which is the longest men's singles final in terms of games played
Federer proudly displays the trophy, which he lost last year to Rafael Nadal, and knows that his victory at Wimbledon has put him back on top of the world rankings
Yes this really was the score of the second epic men's singles final at Wimbledon in successive years
The meeting of masters - Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rod Laver congregate round the trophy to mark the Swiss champion earning the new record of 15 Grand Slam titles
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