Roger Federer stamped his authority on the lawns of the 2005 Wimbledon Championships by defeating Andy Roddick in the men's singles finals to achieve his third title in as many years here.

At least Roddick managed a set in the last year's championship against this great man, but this year he was pulverized by a score of 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, in one of the most lop-sided finals since Pete Sampras defeated Andre Agassi here in 1999.

Every Tom (read Tim Henman), Dick (Andy Roddick) and Harry (Lleyton Hewitt) has been made to bite the dust, or should I say, the grass by Federer. The difference between him and his opponents lies in the fact that he seems to enjoy his game more than anybody.

With most players, the fear of failure is the cause of their failure. Right from his days of winning the junior Wimbledon championship, he was primed for success at the bigger stage of the championships. He joined the likes of Stefan Edberg, Bjorn Borg and Pat Cash to have been the champion here in both the junior and the men's singles levels.

Federer’s game is so complete that people often overlook one of his stronger points – return of service. Everybody is aware of the dangerous Roddick serves, but how on earth did Federer manage to return those serves? Only he can say.

Whenever Roddick managed to serve and volley, his Federer hit winners. Whenever Roddick was setting up the point and then volleying, he was bombarded by passing shots and crosscourt winners, left, right and center.

Roddick did produce some entertaining tennis, but his best, on the most important Sunday in the calendar of men's tennis, wasn't even close enough to what is required to beat Federer.

Roddick joked at the end of the match that someday Federer needs to be bored of tennis so that he can win in Wimbledon. It is good to see the humorous side of Roddick since that alone can prevent him from being deflated in order to have a crack at Wimbledon one more time.

Federer broke Roddick a couple of times to seal the first set in just 22 minutes. He produced some of his best shots in this set, none more promising and defining than the terrific backhand crosscourt winner to win the first set.

Seeing him in such sublime form, the crowd started rooting for Roddick fearing a premature end to the finals. Roddick took advantage of this support by quickly breaking Federer for the first time in the match. However, it managed to take Federer to another level of tennis unknown to the human race. He broke Roddick soon after and the set went to the tiebreak.

Again, Roddick had a couple of mini-breaks in the tiebreak, but Federer was just too good and he wrapped up the set.

Seeing the inevitable end, the crowd knew they had to enjoy the tennis quickly. After all, it seemed that the crowd was supporting Roddick just to make sure they can see more of Federer's magic. They were never unsure of Federer's victory in the match, and neither was Boris Becker , who was part of the audience witnessing Federer's success.

Even in his semifinal victory over world number two Hewitt, Federer was never troubled. Before he knew it, Hewitt was back in the locker room not knowing what had hit him.

That semifinal match was given such a huge build-up that it was almost embarrassing for the fans to deal with a straight sets victory for Federer.

There are not a lot of sports where there is a big gulf between the top two ranked players, but Federer has made sure that tennis is one of the sports. Tennis comes so natural to him that he has become the unofficial owner of the game.

It was surprising to see Federer being broken in the early part of the first set in the semifinal immediately after having broken Hewitt. At that time, promises were there for an absorbing semi-finale, but, Federer's superior all-court play made it a walk in the park for the two-time defending champion.

The match had some of the most intense rallies not seen since the days of Agassi-Sampras at their best during one of their U.S. Open finals. Federer abandoned serve-volley game to return to baseline game. Given that Hewitt is know, for this style, it produced some of the best tennis but some of the angles that Federer gets in his one-handed backhand are inconceivable.

Federer also fed on errors made on the backhand by Hewitt and was soon up by a couple of sets. Although both players struggled with their first serves, on this day, Federer did not need to be a perfectionist in this department to beat Hewitt.

The third set of the semifinal was the best bet for Hewitt since it went to a tiebreak, where luck can play a vital role. In fact, the only set that Hewitt has achieved against Federer in the last year or so has been courtesy of a tiebreak in these very lawns of the 2004 quarterfinals. Also, there was an occasion for Hewitt to vent his anger at the chair umpire for over-ruling a line decision which also turned out to be the correct decision.

However, Federer and everybody knew at the end of the day, that he was a superior player on paper as well as on grass. His strengths are racquet speed, terrific backhand, heavy topspin on his forehand, strong serve, excellent baseline play and deft volleys. He either hits deep baseline shots or just in front of the net which explains the astounding angles he gets with the shots.

Federer is an artist except that he doesn't take too long to finish the job. He combines great balance, tremendous footwork, and mental focus with the sheer power behind his strokes.

Not long ago, tennis aficionados thought that the domination of Sampras will be unparalleled in the history of the game, but Federer has made sure that this new generation of fans will not have to look for the past for the heroes. While Sampras was known for his tremendous volleying and arguably the biggest service (second service included) of men's tennis known at the time, Federer is equally good in all the facets of the game. He can play long rallies with the likes of Hewitt, Roddick and Rafael Nadal from the back of the court and is equally comfortable volleying against the likes of Henman and Marat Safin.

It is easy to see that Federer is a complete product because he has combined his talents with hard work and fitness. It is difficult to envisage anybody defeating Federer in the lawns of Wimbledon for the next five years at least. He seems to be the rightful owner of the center court.

It is insane to compare the achievements of the players from different eras because there is no way of determining who would come out on top if an imaginary match was played with both the players at their very best. But, with a little bit of smart-guessing, it is safe to say that Federer will be on top of the list of all-time players ever to grace the tennis courts.

The only area of improvement for him might be in reinforcing his second serve. He is the only player capable of challenging Sampras' all-time Grand Slam titles, but before that, he has a gaping hole to fill in his resume -- French Open. With that, he would have made sure that Switzerland is known for much more than just chocolates and Swiss Alps. For the time being, Federer is the conqueror!

“Arranged” marriage for Bhupathi and Pierce:

It is the kind of marriage that Mahesh Bhupathi is accustomed to hearing, having come from India. However, for Mary Pierce, who comes from the love marriage world, it was all a bit of a shock, or should I say, a pleasant surprise.

On court, it worked to a nicety, as Bhupathi and Pierce won their first mixed doubles championship at Wimbledon after a mutual friend “arranged” getting them to play the tournament together. Their two sets to love crushing of all the opponents they met, proved their mutual tennis love for two people brought up in different cultures.

It remains to be seen how long this association is going to hold given the fitness concerns and singles priority of Pierce. However, as long as this partnership holds, they are sure to win more cups and trophies together.