Andy Murray notched up his first win over Roger Federer in a Grand Slam as he outlasted the Swiss in 5 grueling sets to reach his 3rd Australian Open Final.
The Scot won 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 in 4 hours to reach the 6th Grand Slam Final of his career. In Sunday’s Final, Murray will face world number 1 Novak Djokovic after the defending champion brushed aside a hapless David Ferrer 6-2 6-2 6-1 in under 90 minutes in their Semi Final clash.
The first Semi Final, played on Thursday, pitted the world number 1 against the gutsy Spaniard who came into the match after a titanic tussle with fellow countryman Nicolas Almagro in the Quarter Final. The Serb boasted a 9-5 head-to-head lead over the Spaniard, having won five of their previous six matches. Their Grand Slam head-to-head stood at a comfortable 4-0 to Djokovic with three of those victories coming in straight sets. Given this background, many expected a victory for the Serb, probably in 3 tight sets or maybe even 4, but what transpired over the next couple of hours was what could be best called a tennis demolition job.
The match got off to a fairly even start with the Spaniard holding serve in his opening 2 games to go 2-1 up. Djokovic kicked into gear in game 4 with a brute of a forehand winner followed by an ace that resulted in a love hold. He made his move on the Spaniard’s serve in the next game with his fifth winner and secured a break of serve which he consolidated with another love hold to go 4-2 up. Ferrer was broken again in game 7 and the Serb wrapped up a surprisingly comfortable first set 6-2 in just 29 minutes.
The crowd anticipated the dogged Spaniard to fight back in the 2nd set, but it was a case of more of the same as the world number 1 raced to a 5-1 lead in next to no time. At times, the defending champion’s first serve points won hovered at around 95% as he ruthlessly crushed the groundstrokes offered up by his opponent. Ferrer managed to sneak in another game to make it 5-2 but the Serbian juggernaut simply rumbled on to wrap up the second set 6-2.
The writing was on the wall for the hapless Spaniard as Djokovic continued to maintain the high standard of tennis on display to cruise to a 4-0 lead. Ferrer was put out of his misery a little while later as Djokovic wrapped up the 3rd set 6-1 handing out a tennis master-class to the world no. 4 to win 6-2 6-2 6-1.
The stats reveal what an absolute hiding it was – none more so than the count of total points won – one which stood at 85-41 to the Serb. Djokovic won a staggering 91% of his 1st serve points (29 of 32) and even won an excellent 79% of his 2nd serve points. The gulf in class showed in almost every stat with the Serb slamming 30 winners to just 16 unforced errors when compared to the Spaniard’s corresponding figures of 11 and 32 respectively. At 89 minutes, the match was more or less a blur and will surely go down as one of the most lop-sided Grand Slam Semi Finals ever !
The second Semi Final pitted two closely matched heavyweights who know each other’s games inside out. Murray came into the match edging the Swiss 10-9 in head-to-heads but Federer leads the Grand Slam encounter tally 3-0 having beaten Murray in 3 previous Grand Slam Finals.
Murray started off by putting pressure on his opponent’s serve in the very first game and conjured up a break point which he was unable to convert. A confident hold got Murray on the board and soon he was up a break as Federer succumbed to some meaty groundstrokes by his opponent. Murray held serve comfortably to take a 3-1 lead in the set, an advantage he held throughout the set thanks to good movement along the baseline and some excellent returns. The Scot soon closed out the first set 6-4 with some more impressive serving. He was on target with 72% of his first serves and hit 16 winners to just 6 by the Swiss.
Federer started the second set with a bit of serve and volleying, a definite shift from him from a failed Plan A to a possible Plan B. Murray continued to maintain his intensity and kept nipping at the heels of the Swiss master, who was yet to hit an ace at this point of the match. As the set wore on, Federer was able to get into a rhythm with his serve but was unable to make an impact on the Scot’s serve as Murray crashed the 10th ace of the match on his way to 4-4. A comfortable hold by the Swiss to make it 5-4 put the pressure back on Murray to serve to stay in the set – something which he duly did to get back on level terms. Some aggressive net play by the Swiss took him to 6-5 but the tie-break was inevitable due to Murray’s sound serving. There was an early glimmer of hope for Federer in the tie-breaker as three straight forehand errors handed him a 4-1 lead. Murray fought back gamely to make it 4-4 but couldn’t close out the set as the Swiss wrapped it up 7-5.
At a set apiece, the match was set up beautifully as the crowd eagerly awaited to see the reaction from the world number three. Murray showed no signs of dwelling on the failure to win the 2nd set and he cruised to a 3-2 lead before seizing the opportunity to break in game six, converting the second of three break points. A love hold got him to 5-2 and a couple of crunching aces meant that the third set was in the bag 6-3.
Early in the fourth set, Murray gave the crowd a bit of a scare by falling to the ground thanks to a wrong-footing Federer forehand. But soon he was up and about as he leveled at 1-1. Federer was the first to make a move with a break in game 4 and a confidence-boosting hold to go 4-1 up in the set. Murray bounced back to level at 4-4 despite two consecutive lucky net cords by Federer in game eight. Federer managed to edge ahead at 5-4 but Murray evened things up at 5-5 thanks to a quick hold. At 0-30 down Murray pounced on the opportunity to break and serve for the match but the Swiss maestro just would not go away and broke back immediately to send the set into a tie-breaker and potentially a fifth set. With the crowd firmly behind him the Swiss made his way to 5-2 before emphatically closing out the tie-breaker 7-2 to take the match into a decider.
The Murray of old might have crumbled in the fifth set but the ‘new’ Murray surged to a 3-0 lead in the decider with some solid shot making from the back of the court. With the 15,000 fans packed into the Rod Laver Arena willing him on, Federer managed to get on the scoreboard but Murray continued to pull away with a love hold taking him to 4-1 and subsequently to 5-2. Murray was soon on the verge of a famous victory and Federer hit a forehand long to hand over victory to the brutally efficient Scot.
The match stats reveal how effective Murray’s performance was. He sent down 21 aces to just 5 by the Swiss. Murray edged the 1st serves in 64%-61% and the 1st serve points won 75%-73%. His 2nd serve points won was an impressive 63% compared to just 42% by the Swiss despite serving at an average 2nd serve speed of 140kph compared to the Swiss’ heavier 155kph serves. Murray’s 62 winners to 43 by Federer showed how his game is gradually changing from a counter-puncher to a free-swinging attacker with power and panache – an attribute that has been instilled in him by Coach Ivan Lendl.
The Final on Sunday promises to be another slug-fest between the two best players on the planet. It won’t be a surprise to many to see another punishing 5-setter in this match, the latest chapter of a growing tennis rivalry between two supremely fit athletes.
