Roger Federer produced one of the best performances in recent years against Andy Murray in winning 7-5 7-5 6-4 in an extremely entertaining men’s semi-final at Wimbledon. The Swiss man has now beaten the Scot the last four times they have played and is in an astonishing 10th Wimbledon final, which he will play against the World #1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
In their three previous matches, all in 2014, there was no real doubt that Murray was well below par. Having just come back from back surgery the World #3 managed just one set in all those meetings, however today was a very different situation with the 2013 champion looking like he’s back to near his best this year. Despite that, however, the British #1 still fell short of making his third Wimbledon final.
If we look at both of their statistics over the years, especially on grass, as well as their form so far this Wimbledon some may have considered a Federer to be the favourite, and rightly so. Federer came into this tournament in great form winning Halle on the grass and was eager to end a 3 year drought without a slam.
So why did Roger Federer get the better of Andy Murray today? How did he produce one of his best performances in a very long time? If we dissect both of their performances down today we can see exactly why why the 17-time Grand Slam champion came out on top. So that’s exactly what we’ll do.
Roger Federer’s Serve
If there was a standout shot in the former World #1 career the last 6 years, it has been the serve. Since 2009 he’s won four Slams and in every one that serve has been the key, especially his wins here in 2009 beating Andy Roddick and 2012 beating Andy Murray in the final.
The serve in general is a huge part of grass court tennis and the Swiss man showed exactly why today. Time and time again, serving at an astonishing 76% first serves, he was holding easily without much fuss at all. In fact to add to his insane serving stats today, in the second set Federer didn’t lose a single point when his first serve went in. Murray barely had a look in on the Swiss’ serve and had only one break point the whole match. That’s one break point for one of the best returners tennis has ever seen in three sets of tennis!
With the 33 year old holding so comfortably with amazing serving the pressure all came down to Andy Murray to keep on holding his own. The Scot was constantly put under pressure at times feeling as if he was serving almost every minute with his opponent holding so quickly.
Andy Murray’s Second Serve
In all fairness, Murray served at a great 74% first serves in as well, but unfortunately for him there were times where the first serve deserted him. He had many games where he was having to hit second serve after second serve constantly, allowing the Swiss man to gain the upper hand in the rallies. What’s worse is the former World #2’s second serve has often been criticised for being the weakest part of his game so it’s no wonder danger was imminent.
Today was no different, and it eventually it led to a downfall, serving at 5-6 in both the first two sets, a lack of serves gave Federer the opportunity to break. Perhaps unsurprisingly, both times the former World #1 came out on top, dictating play, deciding his own destiny, and taking both sets.
Roger Federer’s backhand
As the 7-time champion has gotten older the backhand is arguably the shot that has declined the most; gone are the times where it’s been completely solid on a regular basis. Today, however was the most consistent that backhand has been since ironically the 2012 Wimbledon final.
The backhand was not only consistent but superb; to break serve at the end of the first set the 17-time Grand Slam champion hit several beautiful backhands to contribute to the break. It’s never been the highlight shot in his arsenal, but it really was a thing of beauty today.
In all honesty it’s hard to pick out individual factors why Federer won when in fairness it’s because his whole game was amazing. Like mentioned, his serve and backhand were unbelievable, but then his forehand was as well, just like back in the days where he was winning 3 Slams a year.
As for the 3rd seed, he really didn’t play badly at all. He no doubt could have served better at the end of sets but besides that he barely put a foot wrong. It was simply a match where Murray has to admit Federer was way too good and move on, because he was.
Even though he lost in straight sets however, there are positives. He made the semifinals of Wimbledon for the first time since having back surgery and with that result as well as his Australian Open final and Roland Garros semifinal this year, he should firmly believe he can win his second US Open in September.
Moving onto the final, it’s a repeat of last year’s final between the top two seeds which Novak Djokovic ended up winning 6-4 in the 5th. This year, howeve,r there are a lot of differences, the first being that Federer is in much better form. You can argue Djokovic is also in better form too and I would have to agree, but Federer’s form is on another planet compared to last year’s in all honesty.
Not to say that the World #1 doesn’t have a chance, but if the player ranked just below him in the rankings plays like he did today again on Sunday he will have his hands full. Last year’s final was full of drama but quality wise it wasn’t exactly amazing, with both in better form this year hopefully we get a final which delivers on both fronts.
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