MURRAY AND FEDERER RENEW AN OLD RIVALRY
How the two tennis titans have matched up over the years
TONIGHT at the Hydro in Glasgow, Andy Murray will welcome Roger Federer to Scotland for the first time — and try to give the sold-out home crowd something to cheer about.
It won’t be easy, of course. The Swiss legend is enjoying a marvellous renaissance this year, a season in which he has won two Grand Slams, while the Scot has been sidelined for a few months with a painful degenerative hip condition which has seen his world ranking tumble to No16.
Nonetheless, Murray has been battling to be fit enough for tonight’s charity match which renews a rivalry that has spanned his entire professional career.
Here, Sportsmail looks back on some memorable times the boy from Dunblane has gone toe-totoe with the greatest tennis player of all time...
Aged 18 — and ranked outside the world top 80 — few onlookers expected Murray to trouble world No1 Federer as much as he did in this match in Thailand. In what was his first Tour final, the Scot showed no fear at facing the Swiss. And when he broke Federer in the second set, there was a feeling that maybe a maiden title win was achievable. But champions dig deep and Federer held his nerve to take his 11th title in the calendar year, extending his winning run to 31 matches in the process.
The Scot has had a plethora of memorable moments in a stellar career. But at the tender age of 19, to beat Federer, then on a 55-match winning streak, was arguably one of the biggest wins of his life. Aggressive from the opening set, Murray sensed an opportunity with a below-par Federer staring back from the other side of the net. If he was not already on the radar of every top player, nobody could ignore him now after this performance. Three years on from Thailand and Murray was no longer an unknown as he met Federer in the pair’s first Grand Slam final showdown. The Scot was attempting to become the first Briton since Fred Perry in 1936 to win one of the four Grand Slam events. But Federer and America was a match made in tennis heaven and a brutally dominant performance earned the Swiss his fifth successive US Open title. Declaring Federer as ‘the best player ever to play the game’, 21-year-old Murray quickly learnt how far he still had to go to be the best.
This was always the main event. In front of a fervent home crowd, there was not a competition in tennis that meant as much to Murray. Desperately battling to win his first Grand Slam and with the whole nation roaring him on, the Scot was not lacking in support. But as the trophy was handed out, the tears rolled down his face, and Murray again realised he had fallen to one of the game’s legends. Federer’s serene strokes highlighted the quality gap, but Murray knew he was closer than ever — and within touching distance of the major success he craved.
Less than a month on from defeat on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, Murray was back at the All England Club for another final against Federer — and this time there was an Olympic gold medal on the line. It was well documented that the Briton had never beaten the Swiss in a bestof-five-sets match, but history is there to be rewritten. And a rampaging performance banished any fears of a Wimbledon hangover as a straight-sets win to claim Olympic gold remains one of Murray’s greatest moments. This was two heavyweights swapping blow for blow, but with his Wimbledon heartache now a fading memory, Murray’s tears this time were ones of sheer joy.
When Murray returned to Grand Slam action in January at the Australian Open after an injuryplagued summer, memories of yesteryear gave him grounds for hope. Federer and Murray is always a fascinating duel for tennis fans, combining a mix of elegance, grace, flair, passion and athleticism. This was the first time the bookmakers had made Murray favourite in matches between the pair and, in a gruelling five-set match, the Briton showcased all the signs of a true champion.