Murray Outduels Federer and Heads to Australian Open Final

It was quite a night of tennis and ultimately a rough night for Roger Federer, who not only swore in the direction ofAndy Murray but was also beaten in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time by Murray.

The British player’s poised performance in the Australian Open semifinal on Friday was in part Federer’s fault, of course.

If Federer had not set the bar quite so stratospherically high in the 2000s, Murray in his youth might have been tempted to coast on his gifts; might have been content to keep chomping candy bars and guzzling soda and putting in the practice hours but not — to toy with a British expression — the hardest yards.

If Federer had not driven Murray to tears in a series of Grand Slam finals and left him reeling with doubt and unfulfilled potential, he might never have felt the need to transform himself into quite such a physical specimen; might never have maximized his speed and his serve or hired Ivan Lendl to help him kick his nasty, energy-sapping habit of grousing at himself, his entourage and the vagaries of a game that is ill suited to the demands of a perfectionist.

But an incomplete commitment — to one’s plans, to one’s talent — simply wouldn’t cut it in the era that has belonged to Federer more than any man but has gradually, inexorably become more communal property.

The result was there for the 31-year-old Swiss icon and everyone else to see on a cool Friday night in Rod Laver Arena as Murray advanced to the Australian Open final with a five-set victory in this city where it was hard to believe that it had been blowing Sahara hot just the day before.

Federer — in an unusually feisty, palpably hungry mood — often played like the Federer in our mind’s eye, leaping high to flick backhand smashes, wrong-footing Murray with his forehand and slapping exquisitely timed half volleys on the baseline that still — after all these years — managed to surprise Murray (the repeated Federer drop shots were a different matter).

Those who would read decline into this defeat had best watch the highlight reel again closely.

But his brilliance and energy came in waves while Murray was a more constant force.

Federer, not Murray, seemed to be the one always pushing, even straining, to keep pace, and perhaps it was that point-in, point-out burden that explains why this match — rare in an age of collegiality at the top — developed a genuine edge: Oaths and dark looks included.

After dropping the first set, Federer came back to win the second.

After losing the third, he found himself two points from defeat on Murray’s serve and then with a few brilliant swipes of his racket, put himself in position to win the fourth.

But the fifth set — beautifully poised to become an exclamation point — devolved into something more understated as Murray broke early, took a quick 3-0 lead and maintained his edge (and most of his cool) to win, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, in precisely four hours.

The anticlimactic finish should not detract from Murray’s achievement. Though he now leads their career series 11-9, he was 0-3 until Friday in Grand Slam tournament play: losing the 2008 United States Open final, the 2010 Australian Open final and the Wimbledon final last year.

“I’ve obviously lost some tough matches against him in the slams, so to win one, especially the way that it went tonight, was obviously nice,” Murray said.

Murray did beat Federer in the Olympic final last year, also played at Wimbledon, but the victory on Friday came in a pro-Federer atmosphere that left one wondering whether they should not have handed out cowbells and Swiss chocolates at the gate.

“I didn’t realize they played the Australian Open in Zurich,” a British spectator remarked.

Murray’s reward for this road victory was a place in the final on Sunday against Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 seed who had the evening off while the second-seeded Federer and third-seeded Murray played deep into the night.

“I’m going to be ready for pain,” Murray said.

So he should be considering his and Djokovic’s supreme defensive skills and their consistency off the ground.

This will be a rematch of the grueling Australian Open semifinal match last year that Djokovic won in five sets on his way to defending his title.

This will also be a rematch of the United States Open final last year, where Murray won in five more sets to take his first Grand Slam singles title and where some rallies were long enough to generate nervous laughter in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Conventional wisdom says that Murray should swing more freely as a major champion, but Djokovic has now won 20 straight matches in Melbourne and has been, on balance, the world’s best player on hard courts over the last two seasons.

“Obviously Novak goes in as the favorite, I would think, even though Andy beat him at the U.S. Open,” Federer said.

Murray said he had “no idea” whether his victory in New York would help him.

“I would hope so,” he said. “The task isn’t any easier. I’m obviously playing Novak again on this court. I mean, this has been his best court for sure. So I’m aware of how tough it will be to win the match.”

They have been aware of each other’s talents since they began facing each other in their early teens in European junior competitions. Born one week apart in May 1987, they are now both 25 years old and appear set to face each other across many more nets in the seasons to come.

Murray did not drop a set until facing Federer, but he will have one less day of rest than Djokovic because of the Australian Open’s longstanding policy of splitting the men’s semifinals into separate sessions in order to increase revenue. But the extra day has not proved particularly advantageous to recent finalists, and Murray looks remarkably fit this year.

Against Federer he was the more convincing and intimidating server: hitting 21 aces to Federer’s five and also winning 63 percent of the points off his second serves to Federer’s 42 percent.

That last figure was, of course, a tribute to Murray’s returning, and in another twist, Murray also had 21 forehand winners off his traditionally weaker wing compared with Federer’s 18.

“I think he made things more difficult for me because in the past, even though he served well, I had the impression I returned better against him,” Federer said. “I regret that a bit, but I think he found the zones very well tonight, and perhaps he won the match for that reason.”

There were many emotional peaks on Friday, but the summit came late in the fourth set with Murray serving for the match at 6-5.

Murray won the first point of the game after an extended rally with a forehand passing shot. As the ball flew past, Federer glared in Murray’s direction and appeared to swear. If so, it was hardly Federer’s first oath of the evening and it was unclear why he was barking toward Murray.

Murray took notice, then twisted away, pursed his lips and nodded his head repeatedly.

“We just looked at each other one time,” Federer said. “That’s O.K., I think, in a three-and-a-half-hour match. We were just checking each other out for a bit. No, I mean, that wasn’t a big deal for me. I hope not for him.”

Murray also minimized the incident. “I wasn’t that surprised,” he said. “I mean stuff like that happens daily in tennis matches. You know, in sport, the stuff that some people say on football pitches and in basketball and all sorts of sports. I mean, it was very, very mild in comparison to what happens in other sports.”

Asked to repeat what Federer said, Murray declined. “It’s not relevant what was said,” he answered. “People will want to make a big deal of it, and it isn’t really a big deal.”

Perhaps not on a night when there were so many fast-twitch exchanges, so many clutch serves and so many creative solutions to tennis trouble. But Federer’s angry shout was certainly an indication of how much winning this semifinal mattered to him despite all his victories past.

Depriving him of the pleasure required the full force of Murray’s mature talent, and it was quite a sight.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/sports/tennis/murray-outduels-federer-and-heads-to-australian-open-final.html?pagewanted=all

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