The making of history is not supposed to be easy.

But no-one could have imagined the sweat, the energy, the sheer determination Roger Federer had to exude to defeat Andy Roddick 5-7 7-6 7-6 3-6 16-14 to claim his 15th grand slam.

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What a match! What a fantastic way for Federer to eclipse the record of Pete Sampras, who sat up in Wimbledon's Royal Box in his designer sun shades and smiled his approval.

And when Federer eventually leapt in the air and skipped a little jig on Centre Court to signal victory after four hours and 18 minutes you could not help thinking that if they made a film of this epic final then actor Russell Crowe, also in the Royal Box, could play Federer. What a gladiator he proved today.

Is there a greater sportsman alive today than Federer?

It is doubtful. Tiger Woods might argue, but while golf is technically complex, it does not require the same physical majesty of tennis, nor the same draining courage.

Federer must be the greatest tennis player ever to wield a racket. Better than Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver, who sat next to Sampras.

Better than Sampras, at the great American's own admission.

"He's a great guy," said Sampras. "Effortless. He doesn't seem to be working out there. He's got the belief. He's a legend, an icon, a credit to the game."

And the greatest? "In my book he is," said Sampras.

But let's spare a thought for Roddick, the great tennis hustler from Omaha, Nebraska, with the fastest serve the game has seen who came within a smidgen of spoiling the Federer coronation.

He made this occasion. He was the slugging architect of a match which perhaps did not quite have the intense emotion and sustained quality of last year's epic between Federer and Rafael Nadal.

But it was not far away and it was just as gutsy. Just as determined. A classic of its kind.

A duel between two great servers, Federer beating Roddick 50-27 in the ace stakes and who would have thought that might happen.

In truth, it was such a competitive match because Federer played a shade below the immaculate form he had demonstrated throughout the tournament while Roddick was at his best, taking the first set serving superbly. He should have taken the second too.

Then if he had, we would probably never had the classic which ensued.

As it was, for Federer, surviving that second set tie-break was escapology of the highest order. It was the sporting version of David Blaine suspended from a crane inside a water tank with hands and feet bound.

Make no mistake, it will haunt Roddick forever. When his tennis career is long gone he will still wake up at night troubled by those three minutes in which he went from 6-2 up, with four set points, to lose the breaker 8-6.

Remember, this was the man who, before this match, had won 26 out of 30 tie-breaks this year. He just does not lose shoot-outs from 6-2 up.

But he did. Six straight points going to Federer, including a thumping ace but also containing one of the most desperate chokes from Roddick.

At 6-5 up the American missed his first serve, threw in the tightest of 99mph second serves and then wafted anxiously at a high backhand volley, only to see it sail in the direction of Southfields tube station.

Federer finished off the set and effectively Roddick's Wimbledon title hopes left town there and then.

Federer had the opportunity to show Roddick how to handle the pressure of a tie-break in the very next set when the American clawed back a 5-1 Federer lead to 6-5 but saw the Swiss master sweep him away at the vital point.

That is what champions do. Play the crucial points with authority. Make the seemingly impossible seem simple. None more so than Federer.

But Roddick hung in, mixing drop shots and ripping groundstrokes with Federer until that final set when it came down to reserves of energy, strength of serving arm and sheer will.

"Sorry Pete, I tried to hold him off," Roddick shouted to Sampras at the end.

For Federer there were no quips. Just trademark elegance and grace.

"Today I was on the lucky side," said a humble Federer. "It feels great. It was a crazy match with an unbelievable end."

Yet it is not the end, because Federer insists he will go on for years to come, until his imminent first child is old enough to watch him.

How many grand slams might come his way? Four more? Five more? Who knows?

The one thing which is certain is that he is the greatest. Period.

A gallery of Federer's achievements