Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick were heading back to their creature comforts yesterday: one only the second-best accumulator of grand-slam titles, the other grievously wounded and wondering if he can possibly live to fight another day such as Sunday.

Roger Federer was back at the All England Club after two hours' sleep, using one of its rooms for a deep and personal reflection on his sixth Wimbledon title.

The fundamentals were that, no, 15 grand-slam titles are not nearly the end of it; no, he would never say he was the greatest, being too modest a chap; no, he is not sure why he does not sweat as much as people think he should; yes, fatherhood cannot come quickly enough (only a month to wait); and yes, it will serve only to embolden him for the challenges ahead.

The 27-year-old Swiss had spent a couple of hours as Sunday night darkness gave way to Monday morning light writing notes to some of the 250,000 people accredited to his personal website - and he has 1.5 million fans on Facebook.

“Something very special is happening to me,” he said. “It is a great new cycle. I think that they [his fans] have really started to get behind me again because after dominating and cruising through a lot of victories, some people wanted to see me lose a few times and then to see me win differently, as I did in Paris [at the French Open] and now again at Wimbledon. It is amazing to me that so many want to talk always so positively about me.”

Well, that could be because negative and Federer never seem quite right together. Yes, he lost the final of the Australian Open to Rafael Nadal this year and cried like a baby, a weeping episode that drew derision and sympathy in equal measure. On Centre Court on Sunday against Roddick, having triumphed in the longest final in terms of games played in the history of grand-slam tennis, he could not stop himself leaping around like Zebedee.

“I was so happy to have come through because it looked as though it was never going to end,” Federer said. “It's an amazing moment in my career but I know the pain Andy was going through, so that's why I didn't go overly crazy.

“I believe this will make him stronger because you learn more from defeat and you realise how close you were. It is something you can go back and be proud of. He didn't play bad and was a few points from winning the biggest championship in the world.”

Fresh - or not quite so fresh - from the “civilised” Champions' Dinner, Federer returned to his rented home, watched a few highlights and digested some of the printed word before he fell asleep at 7 o'clock. The word that rose from the pages most was “greatest”.

“I feel great being great but you are not going to hear from me: ‘I feel I'm the greatest of all time',” he said. “I'm proud of being a member of such an elite group. When I came off and [Björn] Borg, [Rod] Laver and Sampras meet you, the legends of the game wanting me to do well, I was happy to live up to their expectations.”

On Sunday night, Federer was told that the All England Club would present him with the net across which his greatness had been established. Nadal had asked for it last year when he won the title. “I wonder if he's fishing with it?” Federer said with a laugh. “One day maybe I'll hang it against a wall in my chalet. [Are they going to give me] anything else? Perhaps the umpire's chair one year or maybe a Royal Box seat?” Don't give them any ideas.

“I have to regroup after this victory and put my mind in the right frame for the rest of the season,” he added. “I want to stay at No 1 and finish the year there. I can't be at home for the next six months. I want to travel and Mirka [his wife] has no problem travelling with me once the baby arrives. It's only good times and I'm not worried what I will be like. I'm too young and eager to do well, Mirka wants to see me play and I want to be with her on the tour and not sitting at home. It's not the life for me.”