Roger Federer, 2012 Wimbledon | featured news

Once the Centre Court roof was closed, nothing could stop Roger Federer from winning his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title. The 30-year-old Federer finally equaled Pete Sampras' record at the All England Club, and won his 17th Grand Slam title overall, by beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 Sunday.

Roger Federer on Friday became the first man in history to make eight Wimbledon finals. The 30-year-old from Switzerland, who is already the all-time leader in major tournament wins with 16, upset first-seeded and defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic and third seed Roger Federer begin their Wimbledon campaigns with wins but Tomas Berdych is out.

After dominating tennis so completely in his mid-20s, Roger Federer has only one trajectory remaining in a brilliant career: downward, as certain as gravity. And even that has been graceful. It’s difficult to pinpoint a skill of Federer’s that has diminished these last two years, in which he slid from No. 1 in the world to No. 3. His movement, at 30, remains fleet and fluid. His serve is shrewdly placed with plenty of pace. And he brandishes a full array of strokes and the smarts to deploy each as circumstances dictate.