With a host of former Wimbledon champs sitting and observing the proceedings, Roger Federer broke Pete Sampras’s record of 14 titles. Prior to the US Open, few thought Roger would be able to break his record. He had started losing to players other than Nadal, and then, there was Nadal too.

When the Australian Open rolled around in 2009, there were still questions whether Roger could still beat Rafa or not, and when he lost, many thought Rafa would roll. He’d win the French. He’d win Wimbledon. The major record would take much longer to accomplish.

And then something of a miracle happened. Or not. Critics had said the physical style that Rafael Nadal played would cause him to have a shortened career. Nadal had faded shortly after Wimbledon in both 2007 and 2008. He often played poorer in the hardcourt season after a long clay season and fighting at Wimbledon. He’d often recover at the beginning of the year, but Nadal’s body seemed only built for 7 months.

No one expected Roddick to play this well. Roddick decided to up the level of aggressiveness and try to hit with Federer. Late in the first set, Roddick needed to stave off break points before he held, a sign of his newfound confidence. He then played well against Federer’s serve and had a break, finally taking the first set.

In the second set, Roddick again had chances. He took a 6-2 lead, only to lose one mini-break, then watching Federer hold both serves, and then to let Roger get to 6-all, and eventually letting the opportunity slip, letting Roger win 8-6. Roger then took the third set tiebreak, and it looked like Andy’s chances might have slipped.

But Andy continued to serve well and hit well, and earn a critical break in the fourth set and ride that to a 6-3 fourth set.

And that fifth set. Both guys served so well, and there were few opportunities, and it went on and on, until Roddick had a few second serves and a few mishits, and lost his only serve of the entire tournament, to give Roger his 6th Wimbledon and his 15th Slam, 16-14 in the final.

Was it as well played as the 2008 final? Maybe not. But it showed the new mental resolve of Andy Roddick, who continued to play well game after game. If anything hurt Roddick, it was his inability to really pressure Roger. Roger was, for the most part, better off the ground, and Roddick needed his serve to win enough points. Not to say Roddick didn’t have some great groundstrokes, and try to play power shots, because he did that, but Roddick also struggled a bit hitting against Federer. With hard hitting shots, Roddick surprised Federer, and didn’t give him rhythm.

There were shots missed that Rafa or Murray or Djokovic might not have missed, aggressive shots where Andy took a chance and would hit wide, or clip the net. Were he a bit more steady on those shots, he might have taken Roger down.

In the end, Andy’s game was a combination of big serving and big hitting, and even as he lost this, it is a far cry from last year when he wondered if he would ever reach a Slam final or even contend. It probably hurts when he realized that he could have had the second set and really put Roger in a pinch.

So discussions of Roger being the best ever will occur again. At the very least, people can point to having a better record than Sampras and being very close to his Wimbledon record.

Congratulations Roger on the 15th!