Throughout his career, big-serving American Andy Roddick proved to be a major force on grass but he failed to win the Grand Slam title that he craved at Wimbledon after running into the almost untouchable Roger Federer in the final on three occasions.
However, Roddick, who reached number one in the ATP world rankings at the age of 21, developed an affinity with the Queen's Club in London, and after back-to-back triumphs in 2003 and 2004, he returned to England looking to capture a third successive crown, a feat that had been achieved by Lleyton Hewitt between 2000 and 2002.
From a British perspective, the 2005 tournament was significant with Andy Murray recording his first wins on the ATP Tour against Santiago Ventura and Taylor Dent, but after he bowed out to Thomas Johansson at the third-round stage, all eyes were on Roddick after he had negotiated his way past Mark Philippoussis and Sebastien Grosjean - the man he had defeated in the final on his previous two visits - on his way to the semi-finals.
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The Texas native would suffer a blip against Radek Stepanek in the last four but he eventually prevailed in three sets to earn his place in the final against Ivo Karlovic, perhaps the only man on the ATP Tour who could rival his serving attributes. The Croatian, who in 2003 famously defeated Hewitt at Wimbledon in his first-ever Grand Slam match, reached the final, which would take place on this day 10 years ago, without dropping a set, five of which came courtesy of a tie-break.
However, the 26-year-old began his first ATP Tour final nervously and immediately handed Roddick three break points. With Karlovic barely flinching on serve all tournament, the American recognised the significance of the opening but he couldn't find the breakthrough as Karlovic found his range. He would register five points in a row to not only get on the board but also deflate his opponent, who knew his chances would be few and far between.
As expected, the set progressed at a rapid rate with extended rallies being a rarity. At 3-3, Karlovic had a volley to bring up deuce but sent it long before in the following game, Roddick reached 30-30 before Karlovic reasserted his dominance. The opening set, inevitably, would reach a tie-break, which was controlled by Roddick as he created three set points. Each of them would be saved by Karlovic, but Roddick recovered to take it 9-7 when Karlovic blazed a forehand long of the baseline.
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The second set followed a similar pattern with neither man coming near to creating a break point. The middle of the set saw several lengthy exchanges compared to the rest of the match, but such was the pressure of the returning player to break, deuce wasn't reached in any of the 12 games that resulted in a second tie-break materialising after an hour and 15 minutes.
Like in the first set, Roddick established an early advantage, but this time, leads of 4-0 and 5-1 made it extremely unlikely that his opponent could muster any kind of response. Karlovic reduced the deficit to 5-3 but a forehand winner brought up three match points for Roddick, and although he squandered his chance on the first, a huge first serve got him over the line as he sealed his third consecutive title at the tournament.
Twelve months later, Roddick would miss out on a fourth straight crown after losing to James Blake at the semi-final stage but he would return in 2007 to reclaim the trophy with a comeback triumph over France's Nicolas Mahut. Roddick couldn't win a record-breaking fifth title before he retired in 2012, but he remains alongside six other players, including John McEnroe and Boris Becker, who holds the most victories in West Kensington.
Darren Plant
