THE FOUR TOPS.....
By JERRY RILES
Are you kiddin' me?
What a final four at this year's 2009 Wimbledon Finals.
Federer versus Roddick. Williams versus Williams.
Should there be a 2nd place finisher? A loser? I think not.
Roger Federer held of challenger Andy Roddick to win his 15th Grand Slam to set an all-time record with super tennis stud Pete Sampras looking on. Wow!
Roddick battled hard at Wimbledon before succumbing to Federer 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14.
It was very difficult to watch Roddick address the prestigious Wimbledon fan base after falling in the Finals to the new legend.
He acknowledged the assembly and paid his kudos to the reigning champion as he accepted the second place trophy. What a classy guy. A regular guy in my opinion.
The sisters? What can you say. Serena or Venus? Take your pick. Out of the last 10-Finals one of the two has claimed the crown eight times during that span. Impressive!
Serena dethrones her sister on Saturday to capture her third title. Venus has already collected five. Talk about dominance.
Serena beat her sister Venus 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Saturday for her third title and 11th Grand Slam championship.
The Williams sisters are holding it down. Will there ever be a sister tandem that puts a strangle hold on womens' tennis? African American non the less?
You tell me?
In my opinion, it's very difficult to determine who's number one and number two, in both categories.
Roddick definitely was devestated after falling to Federer in the Finals, but he was very professional in his approach to bowing to the All-time Grand Slam champion.
So, in my book, all four are Wimbledon champions. Trophies go out to both Venus and Serena, along with Andy and Roger.
Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for bringing tennis back to respectability. It's become fun to watch again. Can't wait till next year.
(Jerry Riles is a weekly 5on5 contributor featured every Tuesday in the RedEye)
