MURRAY JUST OUT LASSED YET,
Superb Federer puts on a flawless show to end Andy’s final dream
THESE are worrying times for Andy Murray. He i s no l onger t he upsetter, t he nuisance, the man who confounds expectations. These days, for close on two years in fact, Murray’s big matches go pretty much according to form.
If he plays an opponent in tennis’s top two, he loses. It has been that way for 12 straight encounters now, since he beat Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2013. Yesterday it was Roger Federer’s turn to prove what the ATP rankings table tells us. Murray is not quite there.
He is good, very good, the best Britain has ever produced no doubt — but there are better. There are the greats of the game, the most supreme competitors at a time that is widely acknowledged as tennis’s golden age. And they are refusing to budge.
There is no shame in losing to Federer, even less than a month from his 34th birthday, but there will be frustration. Murray must have thought he had seen him off a f ew years ago. He must have believed, as many did, that time had done its thing and Federer was no longer quite the force of old.
Murray could take him now. Murray was the coming storm. On Centre Court yesterday that fantasy seemed as remote as ever. Federer was magnificent, his service game impregnable, his desire undimmed. It was like watching a man 10 years younger; and as that man would be a young Roger Federer i t made him close to unbeatable.
Murray did not do a whole lot wrong. He got 74 per cent of his first serves in, won 71 per cent of those points, won 73 per cent of his points at the net. Federer (below), however, barely erred. His numbers were incredible, particularly on his service game. He hit 20 aces, won 86 per cent of his first serves, struck 56 winners to Murray’s 36 and made just 11 unforced errors.
Murray has troubled him in the past, his returns of serve particularly. Yesterday he barely put a scratch in the impeccable white paintwork. This was as good as Federer has been at Wimbledon: certainly when serving.
Federer has lost just one s er vi c e game in t hi s championship — breaking a run of 116 successfully completed — and Murray barely threatened him.
Perhaps recognising that longer rallies favoured the younger man — Murray’s patience is inexhaustible in those moments — Federer looked to get his points done and dusted quickly, serving with extraordi nary accuracy, cl ose to t he lines. Largely, this tactic dominated the game. Sometimes Federer utilised old- fashioned serve and volley magic, sometimes he displayed a controlled aggression married to a power that seemingly comes from nowhere. Federer startles because he never looks to be at the peak of exertion. There are no grunts or cries, just a cold fury, a sniper homing in on his target.
He pulls the trigger and, almost silently, it is over. Heaven knows how it feels to be on the receiving end. Murray must have despaired at his failure to make an impression on a player supposedly in his autumn years as a champion.
Centre Court did its best to be a home crowd but Federer was just too good. They were awed at the way he raised his play at vital moments, breaking Murray when it mattered near the end of each set.
His reads were brilliant, he would narrow his eyes and find returns with added venom. At the end, the crowd rose in rightful appreciation.
Straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4. All but the most foolishly optimistic knew Murray had his work cut out with Federer in such form — but few envisaged a loss of this magnitude.
It may only have been the odd break that decided each set but, make no mistake, this felt like a very heavy defeat for Murray. He really wasn’t in Federer’s class.
One of the best returners in the sport, he did not get a break point on Federer’s serve after the first game of the match. It was like opening a door to the past.
Jimmy Connors was dangerous in his later years, Andre Agassi too — but arguably there has never been a tennis player quite like Federer.
Certainly not a man. Serena Williams would have claim to similar influence in the woman’s game.
on Serena, the effort shows. She screams, she leaps in delight when she wins, we can see the toll it takes, how hard it is to be this brilliant at 33. Federer, at the end, barely showed his emotion.
He smiled, he acknowledged the crowd’s appreciation, he looked pleased. And that was i t. He perspires a little more now. In our memory of the man in his youth, he barely breaks sweat.
The tenth game of the second set summed up what sets Federer apart. He had three set points on Murray’s serve. The Scot got it back to deuce. Advantage Federer. Deuce. Advantage Federer. Deuce. Advantage Murray. Deuce. Advantage Murray. Deuce. Advantage Murray, chasing into the net to strike a beautiful pass. Murray goes nuts. Centre Court goes nuts. Deuce. Advantage Murray. Murray serves a 129 mph ace to win the game after close to 15 minutes, saving five set points in the process. Centre Court gets out of i ts seats, hooting, hollering, just wild, wild, wild.
‘I was screaming, too,’ Federer said. ‘Inside myself.’
And there it is. That’s where Federer does his screaming. Deep down, where no-one sees.
Of course he does. Nobody could perform as he did yesterday without the presence of an inner screamer, a little man who lets it all out, who finds the strength and fury to drag these 33-year-old bones to their tenth Wimbledon final.
Federer has never lost a Wimbledon semi-final: naturally there will be some serious stuff going on beneath the surface.
He said he is playing the best tennis of his career, and he needed to. It is not as if there was no way for Murray to win. He earned the point in most of the long rallies. The longer the ball was in play, the better Murray’s chances.
So Federer limited them. Murray wasn’t allowed to get into complex exchanges on Federer’s serve so was restricted to mounting these counter-attacks on his own. He could have used it as a tactic, given long enough, forced a war of attrition, tried to exhaust the old man.
Federer wasn’t having it. Straight sets and done. Novak Djokovic now awaits.
‘Can I beat him? We’ll find out,’ Federer said. ‘I’m not sure. Novak is one of the best and he’s made it hard to win big tournaments.’
Deep down, however, his inner screamer will be clearing his throat, and not for a last hurrah either, on this evidence.