BBC Sport - Tennis - Federer win breaks Sampras record

Roger Federer became the greatest player in Grand Slam history as he beat Andy Roddick in five dramatic sets for a sixth Wimbledon and 15th major title.

The Swiss won 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14 to surpass Pete Sampras's 14 Grand Slam wins and regain the title he lost to Rafael Nadal last year.

And Sampras was back at Wimbledon for the first time since 2002 to watch from the Royal Box as Federer made history.

But he had to dig deep against an in-form Roddick, who had four points for a two-set lead and then battled back to force an epic fifth set as the match became the longest men's singles final ever in terms of games played.

Federer lost 9-7 in the fifth to Nadal 12 months ago, but this year's final set alone lasted 95 minutes and with 30 games was considerably longer than the previous Grand Slam record of 11-9 in the fifth set at the 1927 French Open.

It's not one of those goals you set as a little boy but it's been quite a career and quite a month ...