Roger Federer arrived in the form of another life, those five or six golden years between 2003-2009, when few in the world could touch him.
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If Djokovic, who will be playing his 17th Grand Slam final, beats Federer on Sunday, he will claim a third Wimbledon title 30 years after German legend Becker first won the grass-court Grand Slam.
Tennis coach Roger Rasheed summed up his display by tweeting: “Roger’s movement, timing, weight of shot on BH, explosive FH, court position, accuracy/ directions of ball, mixture, serve, aggressive nature=A+”.
Lesser players would struggle to bounce back from such a loss but Murray has shown great mental strength in the past and he will do so again to prepare for a crucial Davis Cup quarter-final against France at Queen’s Club next weekend.
Murray, choosing to receive, did not get in front throughout the match but, after almost breaking in the first game, he carried the fight to Federer all the way to the end of each set.
But the tenacious Serb couldn’t be subdued forever and, raising his game at just the right moment, he blitzed Gasquet in the breaker with a series of searing winners. The Scot could do nothing. But in a repeat of past year, the rest of the world probably did. In fact I think many people are defeated by him psychologically before they step on to the court.
“I try to take the best of myself and I have a responsibility to play well – and I’m just glad to reach another final”.
“I’ll have to have a think about it, because maybe I could have returned better, but it did feel like he served extremely close to the lines”. He clearly deserved to win.
“That’s something I don’t remember really having, except maybe on one of the wins I’ve had here”. It also marked the fourth time in five Grand Slam tournaments she was beaten before the quarterfinals.
“He doesn’t put loads of strain on his body”, 2013 Wimbledon champion Andy Murray said. That precision gave him an 84 per cent winning return.
At 33, Federer – the seven-time victor and second seed – is the oldest man to make the final since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1974. Federer did trouble for a couple of points but Murray keeps serve. The pair also squared off for the tournament’s title last summer, in a five-set thriller ultimately taken by Djokovic, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4. Semi-finals are always tough and things could have gone his way in the first set.
At 5-4 up Federer earned his only break point in the third set, a match point.
“There are times when he doesn’t sleep well before the big match”.
After the match Andy Murray praised Federers play particularly his “fantastic serving”.
This one afternoon, he was simply the better man, thriving off his lights-out first serve – 58 of 69 points scored – and then his second serve averaging 100 m.p.h., 20 aces in the match, and stalking the net. He’s one of the best, if not the best. I’ll be OK for the next match. Even, like, on the inside of the Royal Box, when I was walking back, there was applause all the way to the locker room.
A few hours later, Murray felt much the same way about Federer. “The pressure builds throughout the set”. From there it was a chasing game. After holding to love, his beautifully executed shots enabled him to get another set point and this time he successfully converted it after a lengthy rally. “… It wasn’t good”. That’s a significantly higher ratio than the next best performer, Djokovic, who has won 74% of his service points. On a set and service break up he asked for treatment to an injured left shoulder.
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After the match Murray said he had served well and was happy with his performance.
