Wimbledon Day 11- Fabulous Federer Too Good For Murray

He may have won 17 Grand Slam titles, a Davis Cup and hold the record for number of weeks as world number one, but even the humble Roger Federer may admit that yesterday’s Wimbledon semi-final triumph over Britain’s Andy Murray was one of his greatest ever victories.

Federer reaches his second Wimbledon final in a row

The great Swiss turns 34 next month and if this stellar performance is anything to go by he could have a first major in three years to celebrate with. Novak Djokovic will stand in his way in Sunday’s final and if it’s anything like the five set classic they contested last year the Centre Court crowd will be in for a real treat.

Many with tickets would have hoped for the chance to see Murray bid for his second Wimbledon title, not that Federer going for his eighth is any less appealing.

As hard as it was to believe this was quite possibly Federer’s best ever performance at Wimbledon, who would have thought that when he lost to the unknown Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round two years ago.

It was the stature of Murray which made it even more impressive, the British number one appears back to his best after overcoming his back surgery in 2013, has a good team around him and had lost just one match since March. But even with the Centre Court crowd edging towards Murray, Federer simply purred at the task.

The Swiss possesses the graceful movement and rock solid returns which helped him win five titles in a row from 2003 to 2007, but since then his game has had to adapt to cope with the baseline warriors like Djokovic and Murray. Under the guidance of coach and childhood hero Stefan Edberg he has rediscovered the confidence to charge to the net and combat his opponents assets.         

Don’t be fooled by the straight sets victory which finished 7-5 7-5 6-4, as this was not a Murray calamity. If anything this was his best match of the tournament, but with all due respect this wasn’t Vasek Pospisil or Andreas Seppi who Murray had dispatched in the earlier rounds.

Here even Murray’s subtlest frailties were magnified to the extreme. Most notably his second serve which had an average speed of less than 90 mph; it didn’t matter whether it was aimed at Federer’s forehand or backhand, as the Swiss continuously made Murray pay.  

At 74% Murray’s first serve percentage was more than admirable, yet he still fell short of Federer’s 76% which was as high as 81% in sets one and three. Overall it was something of a serving masterclass as Federer endlessly located the corners of the service box before, more often than not, ticking off a volley with his familiar elegance.

"It's been tough. Andy's been playing well this season. There's so much expectation riding on it, you just have to focus for one more game, and then one more game. You think the break will come,” said Federer after the match

"I expected four or five sets. I played so well on the biggest occasion today. My serve was good again, against one of the best returners. I kept the pressure up and was able to mix it up. It worked out well."

As for Murray there is no need to go back to the drawing board and after a first full off-season working with coach Amilie Mauresmo ,which has no doubt contributed to a strong start to the year, his game seems to be back at the level it was when he won the title two years ago.

"He served fantastic, apart from the first game where I had the chance there," said Murray. “I obviously got broken right at the end all of the sets but didn't actually play a bad match. I played pretty well."

That game Murray was alluding to in the first game of the match provided his only break point chance of the entire match. Federer saved it with an accurate serve out wide at 30-40 down and from that point on the tone was set.

The quality of the first set was without doubt the best of the tournament so far, as both players served immaculately. The next two break points came Federer’s way when leading 6-5, Murray saved the first with a pressurised down the line forehand. The second was converted by the Swiss who flicked a Murray approach shot back at his feet, which the Brit could only bundle into the net. 

That meant Federer began the second set serving first and once again it proved decisive. With a 5-4 lead the Swiss raced to a 0-40 lead on Murray’s serve to fashion up three set points. In a determined effort the spirited Brit briefly kept him at bay and saved a further two break points in a game which lasted over 14 minutes.   

But after an immediate Federer hold the pressure was back on, a break of serve at 6-5 gave the Swiss a two set lead and despite Murray’s efforts it was a similar story in the third as Federer recorded the only break of the set when 5-4 in front.

Murray must now turn his attention to the Davis cup tie against France next week, as for Federer the next performance comes on Sunday against Djokovic with slam number 18 potentially waiting in the wings.