 The 2009 season was perhaps the most historically relevant of Federer 's career as he completed a career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open title and won a men 's record fifteenth Grand Slam singles title by defeating Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in five sets , surpassing Pete Sampras 's mark of fourteen . The 2009 Wimbledon final was also historic for being the longest Grand Slam final in terms of games played with Federer prevailing 16 – 14 in a thrilling fifth set . Upon breaking the Grand Slam tournament record , Federer was hailed by most analysts and many tennis greats as the greatest player in tennis history . 
