It was not the rain that beat me, it was Roger said Andy Roddick on Sunday after losing the Wimbledon final in four sets to defending champion Roger Federer.
The Swiss stylist's 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 win was punctuated by two rain delays in the first and third sets with Roddick ahead at both breaks.
And the American notably had the momentum going with him before the second interruption 4-2 and a break up in the third after the first two sets had been split.
On the resumption a slightly jaded-looking Federer suddenly looked more like the player who had been dominating the tournament.
He quickly levelled the scores and had the upper hand for the rest of the match.
But the 21-year-old Roddick refused to blame the rain.
"Unlike yesterday (in semis against Mario Ancic) I had the momentum going both times we came off, but I can't complain because it might have gotten me out of trouble yesterday," he said.
"But it just happens like that sometimes and it's the same for both players. It's a kind of Catch-22."
The US Open champion lost to Federer at the semi-finals stage in straight sets last year and he said that a place in the final this year and taking Federer to four sets showed that he was making progress.
{{/usCountry}}The US Open champion lost to Federer at the semi-finals stage in straight sets last year and he said that a place in the final this year and taking Federer to four sets showed that he was making progress.
{{/usCountry}}"I was taking it too him and I didn't want to get into rallies. It was successful most of the time and a couple of key points was the story of the match," he said.
"But I am getting better and better. All is not lost and I still had a hell of a run. Roger is not invincible. He is pretty close though!"