After his latest drubbing at the hands of Roger Federer, Andy Roddick felt like the rest of us: awestruck, bedazzled, dumbfounded, and flabbergasted. Despite all his gifts, Roddick – for two years the second-best player in the world on grass – was almost as much a spectator during Sunday’s Wimbledon final as those who watched from the green seats of Centre Court.

Nonetheless, Roddick’s performance against Federer was among his best. He certainly played better than he had in any victory during the 2003 U.S. Open, the only Grand Slam title to his credit. He proved that his backhand is no longer the liability it once was; several times he passed Federer with two-handed ropes down the line. One of his best shots of the day, in fact, was a silken slice backhand pass with Federer at the net. As for his suspect footwork, Roddick is not about to dance his way to the French Open title, but he has improved noticeably in this regard in the last three or four months.

Armed with those refinements and his trademark brutal serve, Roddick was exasperated to learn that he had fallen further behind the world no. 1. A year ago, many believed Roddick was an ill-timed rain delay from upsetting Federer in the final, which he eventually lost in four sets. This year, however, he would have needed a well-placed bolt of lightning to beat the two-time defending champion. Federer played his best ever, and Roddick could not compare.

“I did everything I could,” said Roddick, now the owner of a 1-9 record against Federer. “I tried playing different ways. I tried going to his forehand and coming in. He passed me. I tried going to his backhand and coming in. He passed me. Tried staying back. He figured out a way to pass me, even though I was at the baseline.”

The 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss was a difficult moment for the 22-year-old American. He has long been known for one thing – his serve – but on Sunday he was a man of variety, a chipper, a charger, a relentless attacker. Throughout the tournament he had shown flashes of this new identity, as when he served and volleyed to pry the fifth set from Daniele Bracciali in the second round. His effort against Federer was admirable.

And yet the final statistics were astonishingly one-sided: 49 winners and 12 errors for Federer, a mere 19 winners and 16 errors for Roddick. Most startling of all was Roddick’s success rate when he approached the net. In 54 tries, he won only 25 points. At 46%, it’s far less than an acceptable rate, say around 65%. When he approached from the baseline, rather than directly after a serve, he won only 12 of 34 points (35%).

Several of his approach shots were not deep or firm enough to expect a good result. But many were perfect, and still Federer answered with winners, like the backhand he hit cross-court on break point in third set.

“I covered that ball,” Roddick said. “I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to run cross-court.’ He could have picked the ball up and thrown it down the line and I wouldn’t have gotten to it. I covered it. It hooked. I was full stretch and I didn’t get to it. All I know is that I looked and it was by me, and I saw chalk fly.”

Considering the numbers, it’s easy to criticize Roddick, no natural volleyer, for approaching as often as he did. Marching forward to be passed time again, he was a man walking the plank without a sword at his back. But it’s not as if he had another option. When the two rallied from the baseline, Federer outdid Roddick in winners, 23 to 4.

Some days – and in Federer’s case, it seems, whenever a title is at stake – even a player the caliber of Roddick has to say enough is enough.

“Maybe I’ll just punch him or something,” Roddick told the crowd afterward. He was more reserved about his options in the post match press conference: “Hope he gets bored or something.”

Roddick’s tone – the disbelief, the jokes, his pleasure at finally causing the All England Club official sitting beside him to laugh – was as telling as any shot Federer hit. It’s not often that a professional athlete takes a beating and then talks of his opponent as a 10-year-old might his college bound brother. It was as if the outcome was inevitable. But Roddick vowed he would not give up the chase.

“I want another crack at him till my record is 1-31,” he said. “You want to compete against the best. He’s the measuring stick.”

By the look of things, there may be little hope for Roddick – or anyone else – when Federer plays like only he can. Yet as much as Federer showed us on Sunday, he merely confirmed the endless ability we all believed he had. Roddick revealed something more: that he is defiant in the face of his own limitations.

It would be easy for Roddick to cruise through his career as a server, a one-shot wonder always one hot streak from a title. But he obviously wants to do better than that, as his willingness to vary his attack at Wimbledon attests.

Frustrating as it may be for Roddick to use Federer as his measuring stick, it may turn out that the Swiss star becomes the biggest reason why Roddick wins future Grand Slam titles. After all, no one – not Sampras, not Lendl, not Borg – can play his best day every day. If Roddick keeps on this path, he’ll become too good a player to be denied, even if he is only left with the king’s table scraps.