WIMBLEDON. DAY 11
Dreams of a second title shattered by scintillating Swiss.
ROGER FEDERER is the greatest tennis player in the history of the sport. Yesterday he was even better than that. The 33-year-old served up a perfect performance on Centre Court to bring Andy Murray’s hopes of a second Wimbledon singles title to a sudden, anti-climactic halt.
The Scot and the Swiss have spent much of this tournament a metre apart in the All England Club locker room. They warmed up for yesterday’s semifinal by hitting on adjacent courts. Unfortunately for the world No. 3, on Centre Court yesterday the Scot also had to settle for a close-range view of a player who is redefining what is possible in this sport, particularly from the service line. It said it all that the evergreen veteran was applauded all the way back to that locker room, even with tomorrow’s final against Novak Djokovic still to play.
For the record, that match will be his 10th Wimbledon final, having maintained his record of never losing an SW19 semi-final. It will be a chance to land a record eighth Wimbledon crown, or his 18th grand slam title in all. It will also be the 1,269th match of an utterly extraordinary career.
Unlike Ivo Karlovic or Sam Groth, this 33-year-old doesn’t smash the smithereens out of the ball. Instead he caresses it into the court, but the efficiency and fluency of his motion has rarely been better than it was throughout this imperious 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 victory. So often did his deliveries hit their spots and bring chalk dust into the South West London air that Murray faced just five second serves in the first and third sets. Even when that first-serve percentage dropped to 61 per cent in the second set, he compensated by winning every single point when it did. Every time the world No.3 appeared to have a fair wind at his back, one of these pinpoint serves would promptly take it from his sails.
This was the 24th meeting in a longrunning series between these two men which stretches back a decade. While the margin of defeat was nothing like the 6-0, 6-1 rout suffered by the Scot at the ATP World Tour finals in December, it was a sobering antidote to the optimism of his best ever start to a season. From their earliest days, Murray has always proved a thorn in the side of his Swiss opponent, but employing Jonas Bjorkman is a tacit admission that new tactical answers are required to counter Federer’s reshaped serve-and-volley style. That arrangement is still in its infancy and at times during this match, the Swiss man – who also has a Swedish serve-and-volley expert in his corner, Stefan Edberg – appeared to have him tactically cornered.
Things might have been different had Murray been able to capitalise on a break point in the very first game of the match, his only such opportunity all day. The chance was achieved less through any foibles on Federer’s part – whose initial eight first serves all found their mark – and more through a storming Scottish start.
Murray was later chastised for electing to receive when winning the toss as it meant he served from behind the entire match, but such thoughts were far away when, challenged for the first time at the net, a magnificent backhand pass up the line won the day. Typically, however, the break point was
saved by a Federer service winner, and before long we were into a tight first set in which chances against the serve were virtually non-existent.
In addition to getting 85 per cent of his first serves in play during that first set, the Swiss made just three unforced errors, and the pressure ratcheted up a notch or two as Murray served to stay in it at 5-6. One break point had been saved before Murray, bravely charging the net at a moment of stress, saw Federer’s return bounce right at his shoelaces and he could only stub the half volley into his shoes.
At times Murray seemed to come near to a breakthrough, yet ultimately he remained far away. He ended up with a first-serve percentage of 74 per cent, just two percentage points less than Federer. And while his second serve was noticeably slower, he won half of those points too.
Towards the end of that second set, though, holding serve was becoming traumatic. Things reached a climax in a 10th game of the set which lasted 15 minutes, with sheer strength of will seeming to keep the Scot’s flame alive. He saved five set points during that game alone, with both men even required to change their rackets.
It was an epic hold and for once momentum was on Murray’s side, but a service game to love saw it dissipate again and a break in the very next Murray service game doubled Federer’s advantage on the scoreboard.
The crowd temporarily lost their senses during this mad 20 minutes, succumbing to the football-style vibe which the Scot had surfed to Olympic victory in 2012.
But for the most part, this was a neutral venue, Murray’s proponents cancelled out by the Swiss man’s travelling army of admirers or those who would like to see him claim another title before he shuffles off for good.
There was an inevitability about the way the third set unfolded, the pressure on the Murray serve again becoming unbearable when he served to stay in the match. A magnificent Federer backhand cross-court pass displayed that on the contrary, his confidence was full to the brim, and this match was come and gone when one forehand from the Scot flew into the tramlines. It left the personal head-to-head between the two men at 13-11 in Federer’s favour, or 5-1 in grand slam play.
The short-term challenge for the Scot, after a possible watching brief for his brother Jamie’s men’s doubles final, is picking himself up for Davis Cup duty against France next weekend. The long-term one is reinventing himself for the latter part of his career as effectively as yesterday’s opponent has.