As you may know Andy Murray and Roger Federer will now face each other for an incredible 25th time with the winner contesting the Cincinnati final against either Novak Djokovic or Alexandr Dolgopolov. Although the Swiss man has won his last 4 encounters against the Brit and now leads the H2H 13-11 in the past these two have had great matches against each other and here are my top 3.
Top Federer vs Murray Matches
1) Tennis Masters Cup, 2008 RR
Murray def. Federer 4-6 7-6(3) 7-5
It’s not often Federer is left needing to win his last RR match at the end year championship to qualify for the semi-finals but that’s exactly what he needed to do. Murray on the other hand didn’t need to do anything but finish the match, although a win would have him finish the group in first and not second. Either way the World #4 came out to win and with Federer going for broke knowing he had to win they both produced the finest tennis of the tournament. After splitting the first two sets the third set still remains to this day to be one of the most exciting and crazy sets between the two. Murray led 3-0 but then found himself a break down at 3-4, then as the World #2 Federer served to stay in the match at 4-5 he was forced to save 7 match points in dramatic fashion in one of the greatest games I’ve ever witnessed. The Swiss’ resilience however was short lived and he was broken in his next service game to lose the match. The Brit then went onto lose his SF against Nikolay Davydenko being noticeably tired, maybe it was a huge mistake to have exerted so much energy against the 13 time Grand Slam champion in a match he didn’t have to win.
2) Wimbledon, 2012 Final
Federer def. Murray 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4
A match that perhaps never got the credit it deserved with the majority of the last 2 sets played indoors. Andy Murray still looking for his first Grand Slam final at the time came out all guns blazing and overwhelmed the six-time champion into taking the first set 6-4 and giving himself a good chance for 2 sets to love lead. However this wouldn’t be the case with the Swiss man playing two of his finest points of the match back to back to break Murray and level the match taking the second set 7-5. With the roof then shut Federer excelled his game to another level, a level that no other player can match on indoor grass. Murray played near his absolute best and the quality of tennis on order was insane at times but he just couldn’t keep up with that Federer and thus the quest for his maiden slam continued.
3) Australian Open, 2013 Semi-Final
Murray def. Federer 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 6-7(2) 6-2
There was a lot of expectation going into the semi-final for Murray knowing that for the first time in his career he would play his great rival with a slam under his belt. In all fairness over all 5 sets of the match the 2012 US Open champion was the better played however the 4 time champion raised his game at both the end of the 2nd and 4th sets to take them both in tie-breaks and somehow send the match into a 5th and deciding set. After failing to serve out the match in the 4th set and hearing Federer have an out of sorts outburst including some cursing, the 3rd seed would go onto play a near flawless 5th set winning it 6-2 booking his place in the final and his first slam win over the 17 time Grand Slam champion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwlBt3FN9y4
