Australian Open #11: Finales!

Roger Federer 1.67 over Andy Murray

The hope of an entire nation weighs on the shoulders of Andy Murray yet again as he is once again in a position to be Great Britan's first grand slam champion since Fred Perry. His only obstacle is to win 3 sets against the greatest tennis player to ever grace the earth.

Federer had been unimpressive down under until about halfway through the 2nd set against Davydenko where he completely dismantled and hammered the world #6 Russian. Fed was down a set, a break, and two more break points before he turned it on as only he can and sent Davydenko packing. The 4th set had some additional drama but Federer proved too good yet again. Following that win was a win over the jaded Frenchman JW Tsonga in bossy fashion.

Murray has been dominant all tourney, although he took has benefited some from playing guys that are battered and bruised. After winning two hard fought sets against Nadal, the former world #1 tweaked his knee and had to retire. It was a good test for Murray, one that you can say he passed with flying colors but Nadal is no where near the Nadal he was 12 months ago. After that, Murray got a flyer facing Cilic who was playing on sheer perservence alone.

The H2h is 6-4 in favor of Murray although as we all know Federer has won two in a row and took their only 5 set encounter at the US Open final in 3 sets. One thing to note here is that as dominant as Federer looked in the quarters and semis this year he looked every bit as good if not better in those 2 rounds last year beating Del Potro and Roddick in straights.

The primary matchup here is obviously the Federer serve (especially 2nd serve) against the Murray return. Feds serve looked mediocre at best at times against Davydenko but that has to be credited to the Russian, who was returning completely out of his mind. Obviously Murray can pass as well as anyone in the business and I'm sure we'll see Fed get passed plenty of times at net but rather than having a viscious initial return of serve I expect Murray to neutralize the serve and massage points as he always does.

One very underrated factor here is Federer returning the serve of Murray. Although Murray has added some heat to his first serve he is not as adept as Federer at placing it and his second serve will be a sitting duck for the Swiss to pounce on. Of course the same could be said for Federer against the second serve of Nadal and we all saw how poor Roger was at capitalizing on that last year at this very same stage. If Federer is on when it comes to returning Murray's second serve, the Scot is almost completely hapless.

Last but not least we have to take a look at whats at stake here. For Federer, a grand slam is a grand slam. Unlike the US Open, I think now hes had some time off to actually reflect on all of what he has accomplished and unlike that tournament I dont believe he's burnt out. Last year, he had too much pressure to win this thing but at this stage of his career the only motivation Federer has other than the obvious stuff is to not let Murray win one on his watch. Believe me, that is enough for a guy like Fed.

Will Murray be able to handle the heat? We've seen him melt numerous times under pressure. The huge breakdown against Roddick last year at Wimbledon. The beating Fed gave him in New York in 08. The humiliation by Cilic in straights last year at the US Open. The straight sets shelling in 08 at Wimbledon by Nadal.

At the end of the day Federer has more in his repotoire and the fact that he'll make sure that all the pressure is on Murray will be enough for Roger the great to win his 16th grand slam.

borisz	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:49
	GSMC SERENA WILLIAMS
Zeroku	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:49

Eppie_NL	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:50
	quote: Op zaterdag 30 januari 2010 11:49 schreef borisz het volgende: GSMC SERENA WILLIAMS Verdiende overwinning.
TheVulture	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:50
	Serena
Heero87	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:50
	Jammer, maar logisch. Maar Henins prestatie is in ieder geval veelbelovend: als ze haar opslag op punt krijgt, wordt ze nog beter dan voorheen. Die heeft haar vandaag toch genekt, voor de rest speelde ze eigenlijk vrij goed. .
Heero87	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:50
	Die lijnrechters mogen zich vandaag ook wel diep schamen trouwens. .
beertenderrr	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:51
	Serena Henin
leroytje	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:54
	Wat zegt ze nou? Vorig jaar domineerde die nare Safina? SPOILER Dinara Safina
LuieSurinamer	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:54
	Veel mensen klagen altijd over de arrogantie van Serena. Die arrogantie is niet voor niets, want ze maakt het alweer waar. Terechte nummer 1 van de wereld. Serena
nightcowboy	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:55
	Serena
TheVulture	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:58
	quote: Op zaterdag 30 januari 2010 11:54 schreef LuieSurinamer het volgende: Veel mensen klagen altijd over de arrogantie van Serena. Die arrogantie is niet voor niets, want ze maakt het alweer waar. Terechte nummer 1 van de wereld. Serena Ik vind de Williams-zusjes echt
LuieSurinamer	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:59
	quote: Op zaterdag 30 januari 2010 11:58 schreef TheVulture het volgende: [..] Ik vind de Williams-zusjes echt
Rejected	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 11:59

Nalbandian	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 12:00
	TVP voor morgen.
beertenderrr	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 12:05
	I'd like to thank god !!!
Tim86	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 12:08
	Terechte overwinning.
Chriz2k	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 12:09
	Serena ! Venus ! De rest !
Federer-fan	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 12:28
	quote: Op zaterdag 30 januari 2010 11:54 schreef leroytje het volgende: Wat zegt ze nou? Vorig jaar domineerde die nare Safina? SPOILER Dinara Safina Ja, leg het nog even uit.
Heero87	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 12:29
	Henin komt trouwens virtueel de top veertig binnen.
Klopkoek	zaterdag 30 januari 2010 @ 12:34
	Hoe kan het toch dat België drie/vier goede tennisters heeft en wij geen enkele Henin Jammer dat ze verloren heeft. Ben altijd een 'fan' geweest