Roddick: Federer's favourite for Wimbledon

He may have broken the world serving record en route to a second successive Stella Artois title, but Andy Roddick does not believe he is favourite for Wimbledon.

The American reckons defending champion Roger Federer is still the man to beat at SW19, particularly after the world No1's emphatic victory in Germany's Gerry Weber Open in Halle yesterday.

Roddick said: "Roger is the favourite, he took care of business pretty well in Halle, which did not surprise me. Behind him, Tim Henman is another contender, Lleyton Hewitt's also up there and I think I'm in that mix as well."

The 21-year-old overpowered France's Sebastien Grosjean 7-6, 6-4 in the Queen's final and believes his game is in far better shape than last year, when he lost to Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Roddick said: "My second serve is really big right now. That's the real difference from last year. I'm not sure I've served this well before. My big concern coming into Queen's was getting some matches on grass. Having done that and got wins over a couple of top players in the process, it's perfect preparation."

In a superstition dating back to the days of Samson and Delilah, Roddick today revealed that his immense power can partly be attributed to a lucky beard.