Federer wins seventh Wimbledon title

Roger Federer won a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title and 17th Grand Slam crown on Sunday, shattering Andy Murray's dream of ending Britain's 76-year wait for an All England Club men's champion.

Federer, playing in his eighth Wimbledon final and 24th Grand Slam championship match, won 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to join Pete Sampras and William Renshaw as a seven-time champion.

The Swiss great, who has also regained the world number one ranking, is just the third man over 30 to win Wimbledon following Rod Laver in 1969 and Arthur Ashe in 1975. Murray, 25, bidding to be the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win Wimbledon, has now lost all four Grand Slam finals in which he has appeared.

But in the opening exchanges of this eagerly-anticipated final, he was the stronger player, making the most of his five-year advantage as Federer looked fatigued and ragged.

However, once the 80 million roof was shut in the early stages of the third set, as torrential rain bucketed down outside, the momentum shifted and Federer stormed into the ascendancy.

AFP