Roger Federer today warned his rivals that winning his 15th grand slam has only made him hungrier for more titles.

Federer's amazing 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 Wimbledon win over Andy Roddick was the longest final in slam history and took him past Pete Sampras's mark of 14 major titles.

It was the sixth time the Swiss has won the men's singles at SW19 and now he wants more, starting with the defence of his US Open title in New York next month.

Having won the French Open — for the first time — and regained the Wimbledon crown Rafael Nadal snatched away last year, Federer has also taken over from the injured Spaniard as the world No1.

He said: “I love the game too much to walk away from it and I am going to play for many more years.

“Breaking Pete's record and winning a sixth Wimbledon title still hasn't sunk in and it could take weeks to figure it all out because it was so gruelling.

“It's hard to grasp the magnitude of the day in history and this was my greatest win by a long shot because I had to battle so hard for the title against Andy and I needed a little bit of luck.”

Sampras kept the promise he made to Federer to be at court side when he created the new record of 15 slam wins and believes the Swiss star is the greatest player to pick up a tennis racket.

“I think you have to give it to him,” said Sampras. “The critics say Rod Laver, and Rafael Nadal's beaten him a few times. But he's won all the majors, he's won 15 now, he's going to win a few more. In my book he is the greatest.”

Sampras is backing Federer to keep his promise to collect even more titles and expects the new record to reach nearly 20 slams.

“He's only 27 and he'll contend here for many years, at the US Open, at all the majors, so if he just keeps it going and stays healthy he could go to 18 or 19,” added the American.

“He's a great guy, he's humble, which I like. He's sort of effortless. It doesn't seem like he's working that hard out there. He just plays at that level so easily. He serves big, he's got a great forehand, his backhand is solid, he's got everything. He's got the belief. He's a legend, an icon.”

Bjorn Borg believes Federer can go on to achieve far more in tennis and said: “If you stay healthy I think he can win quite a few more grand slams. He gives 100 per cent every time so you are going to see him in many more finals.”

One of the first of many messages of congratulations for Federer came from close friend Tiger Woods, who sent the Swiss a text message ahead of teeing off at the AT&T National tournament — which he won.

Woods said he sent the simple message, which read “great job. Now it's my turn”, before he teed off on the final round.The world golf No1 and his tennis counterpart are known to occasionally prod each other along with a competitive banter of text messages.

Last month, Federer won his first French Open, while Woods won the Memorial Tournament at about the same time, and the American explained: “He won the French and I won the Memorial, so it was kind of let's do it on the same day, let's do it again today.”