Roger Federer won his seventh Wimbledon title on Sunday, shattering Andy Murray's dreams of ending Great Britain's 76-year hiatus from an All England Club victory.

Federer beat Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to take home the 17th Grand Slam crown of his career.

His victory puts him in an elite club with Pete Sampras and Will Renshaw, the only other players to have won the Wimbledon title seven times. Federer has also become only the third man over 30 to win Wimbledon, the other two being Rod Laver in 1969 and Arthur Ashe in 1975.

The Swiss champion has also regained the world number one ranking.

"It equals me with Pete Sampras, who's my hero, so it feels amazing," said Federer, whose last Wimbledon title was in 2009 and was without a major since the 2010 Australian Open.

"It feels great being back here as the winner," he continued. "It feels like it's never left me. I think I played some of my best tennis in the last couple of matches. I couldn't be more happy."

Murray goes home empty handed

Although the 25-year-old Murray started out strong by winning the first set, Federer managed to rally and decisively win every subsequent set against the Scotsman.

Murray has now lost all four of the Grand Slam finals that he has competed in. He was hoping to bring home the first Wimbledon title for Great Britain since Fred Perry in 1936.

"I'm going to try this but it won't be easy," said an emotional Murray. "Firstly I'd like to congratulate Roger. I was asked the other day if this is my best chance? Roger's 30. He's not bad for a 30-year-old."

"I can't look at you guys (in the box) or I'll start crying again," he continued. "We did a great job so thank you."

slk/jlw (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)