Roger Federer wins Wimbledon after epic Andy Roddick battle

Federer celebrates with his trophy after beating Roddick.

Roger Federer secured a record-breaking 15th grand slam after he finally overcame Andy Roddick in a tense and gruelling five-set men's singles final at Wimbledon today.

The Swiss player's sixth Wimbledon title takes his overall tally of grand slam wins to 15, putting him ahead of Pete Sampras, who was present on Centre Court to watch Federer's gruelling 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 victory in what became the longest ever men's singles final at the All England club.

But Federer, who will reclaim the world No1 ranking with this victory, had to dig deep as Roddick secured the only two breaks of serve in the first four sets to take the match into what became a marathon fifth set. The decider went with serve all the way until the 30th game, Roddick having spurned two break points for a 9-8 lead. The American then began to flag and eventually succumbed after more than four and a quarter hours on his own serve.

It was Roddick's third Wimbledon final defeat, the American having also lost to Federer in 2004 and 2005 and probably the closest he will ever come to winning at the All England Club and adding to his solitary grand slam title, the US Open six years ago.

The American took the first set after Federer had looked in control in the early stages. However, Roddick saved four break points in the 11th game – Federer making several unsuccessful challenges on close line calls – before then breaking Federer's serve in the next game to snatch the set 7-5.

That was only the second set Federer had lost in the championships this year and also gave Roddick the advantage of serving first again in the next.

The second set followed a similar pattern to the first, with the serving dominant but this time Federer managed to force a tie-break.

Roddick, who had won 26 of his previous 30 tie-breaks this year, looked likely to win another when he took a 6-2 lead, earning the 26-year-old four set points.

The first was on his serve but Federer saved it with a backhand winner, and then took the next two on his own serve to make it 6-5. Roddick had one last chance but swatted a high backhand volley well wide, and Federer pounced to take the next two points – making it six in a row – to secure the tie-break 8-6 and level the match.

There were few opportunities for service breaks in the fourth set – Roddick saved its only break point – but Federer began to look stronger and edged the tie-break 7-5.

However, Roddick steeled himself once more and broke Federer's serve in the fourth game of the following set, clinching it with a superb backhand down the line. The rest of the set then went with serve as Roddick took it 6-3 to take the match into a nailbiting fifth set that lasted well over an hour.