first is sweet...

two more sets and andy roddick will capture his first men's singles wimbledon title and the first time in 4 years for an american player after pete sampras bagged it in 2000. maria sharapova on the other hand overpowered defending champion serena williams with a stunning 6-1,6-4 victory in their final match yesterday, snapping serena's quest for a three in a row and eventually winning her first women's singles trophy, marking sharapova as the first russian to win the crown and the third youngest at the age of 17 after martina hingis took it at age 16 in 1997 and charlotte dod at the age of 15 in 1887.

second seed roddick has to dismantle top seed and defending champion roger federer of switzerland for him to get that elusive title. but now that federer evened the match at one set apiece, it's now a tougher task.

this final match pits top seeds showdown in 22 years, the last time was in 1982 when top seed john mcenroe was defeated by second seed jimmy connors in five sets.

the tournament has been rain-delayed twice. one in the 3rd set when roddick is leading 4-2, but when the blue sky finally came, the swiss surged taking 3 consecutive games and winning the set, making it 2-1.

just like the first three sets, 6-4, 7-5, 7-6, the fourth set was played in a similarly close fashion. both players showed superb plays, even leveled at 4-4, but the defending champion went on to deliver in some crucial plays winning the fourth set, 6-4 and closing it out with a powerful ace. after smashing the final ace, federer threw his knees on the ground, bended backward and screamed in celebration of his second title.

i thought roddick will go all the way after the first set, perhaps irish too, who also cheered for the american, and i even predicted to go down to five, but federer's style, patience and coolness were unquestionably brilliant turning my predictions into ashes and making the 21 year-old american still longing for the title.