It took 4 hours and a very good performance for Andy to beat Roger for the first time in a slam.
The Scott had clearly the best package to be completely superior for the first 1 set and half. Federer confirmed that his tennis is now more solid, but he wasn’t as aggressive as he should and his first serve was completely ineffective (not to say a disaster). The Swiss wasn’t able to blast a single ace in the first set.
The Match
Taking everybody by surprise, after losing the opener Roger got to the tiebreak in the second set when he used all his experience (and mastery) to win it at 5. The world no.2 was particularly effective at exploiting a huge weakness of his opponent: Andy often loses control of his forehand in tense moments. In fact, 4 (completely) unforced errors of the Scott on his forehand gave the second set to Roger.
The third set was a comfortable one for Andy that was also in complete control of the forth one before choking when he was serving for the match when leading 6-5. Guess what? He missed another shaky forehand to give back the break to Roger. The Maestro was then perfect in winning the 2nd tiebreak at 2.
The decider was a “stroll in the park” for Andy as he immediately broke Roger to lead 3-0 and then break him again in the 8th game to win an “easy” 6-2.
The overall impression was that Murray was the better player, but Roger was there. 2 things were really missing for the Swiss: the serve and the “aggressiveness”. The Maestro was a little bit too passive to play his best tennis when he was forced to attack.
Conversely Murray was absolutely superior in his serve. 21 aces vs Roger’s 5. He conceded 6 break points vs. Federer’s 16. Andy was completely dominant also in the number of points won (a useful indicator) as the Scott won 177 points vs. Federer’s 155.
Another very good point for Murray was his incredible fitness, focus and capacity to retrieve unplayable balls.
From Murray
“It’s always tough against him, when he plays in Slams is when he plays his best tennis,” commented Murray.
“When his back was against the wall at 6-5 and I was serving, he came up with some unbelievable shots. I just had to keep fighting.”
From Federer
“Definitely it was more of a chase.” the Maestro said
“Obviously you’re going to go through a five-setter with some regrets. But overall, I think Andy was a bit better than I was.”
The final with the Djoker is going to be really interesting… In the meantime the Serb was enjoying the match eating popcorn… with a big smile when the match got to the 4th hour.
