We have seen the gesture so many times in our lives that we tend to take it for granted, but when Pete Sampras raised his right thumb to Roger Federer yesterday on the court that was once his, it was simple acknowledgement of torch-passing the like of which tennis never thought it would see.

Andy Roddick did not notice it, though he was not seeing anything except the blur of a golden cup dashed from his lips. How wonderful, how cruel, how historic, how absolutely right, how utterly crushing.

When Federer stood beneath Centre Court with Sampras — who had flown on the red-eye from Los Angeles back to the grounds he had not seen in seven years — Rod Laver and Björn Borg (that is 22 Wimbledon titles in one alcove, which takes some organising), who knows where Roddick was suffering. His eyes were redder than Sampras’s for sure.

He had lost the longest men’s final in terms of games played in the rich panoply of these championships dating back to 1877 — 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14. And there we were thinking that last year’s final in SW19 was unsurpassable. Bring on 2010.

Federer kept repeating the word “crazy”, and crazy it was. For all sorts of reasons. It was crazy in that Roddick should have been two sets ahead and then what might have been the outcome? Crazy in that the man who is the most devastating tie-break player in the world lost two and yet he refused to be cowed; crazy in that, having survived a break point in the second game of the final set, the American had two of his own in the 17th game and, on the second, Federer produced an exquisite drive-volley.

Crazy in that Federer served 50 aces, generally in batches of two or three per game; crazy that Roddick’s double-handed backhand, which has been his liability, worked like a dream; crazy that, ultimately, his forehand, that feared weapon, should betray him.

For all and so much more, can we have more of the crazies please? Federer regained the trophy that was taken from him last year by Rafael Nadal and now has six titles, one short of Sampras’s total.

Can you imagine watching this if you were an American, on the famed Breakfast at Wimbledon programme on which these stars were weaned? Long after the waffles and blueberries had been digested, it became Lunchtime at Wimbledon and was heading towards High Tea at Wimbledon when their boy’s courageous, utterly courageous, resilience was broken.

Roddick had to play exactly as he had against Andy Murray on Friday, tactically astute, holding back on his innate desire to club the fluff off the ball, serving for all his worth and hoping he might get an eye in on Federer’s serve, supposedly not his equal.

In the first set, the ruse worked, for Roddick saved four break points in the eleventh game and snaffled Federer’s in the next to edge in front. The second set proceeded without much ado into a tie-break, in which Roddick had a 26-4 record in 2009 going into the final. With two mini-breaks, he was 5-1 up, then 6-2.

Four set points, two on his serve. Curtains for Federer anywhere else but Centre Court. The great man caressed an insouciant backhand half-volley cross-court winner and held two points on his own serve, the minimum requirement. Still there was a Roddick serve to come; but it was a second serve, a rally was joined, the American came in, Federer looped a forehand that might have dropped in, the wind was swirling, so Roddick had to go for it. Unfortunately, his right wrist cocked and the ball sailed out.

The American framed the next big backhand, missed another and it was a set apiece.