Andy Murray has a tough assignment ahead of him tonight if he is to reverse his 2008 US Open final result against Roger Federer and claim the first Grand Slam title of his career.
Fortunately for Murray’s 60-million country folk, who have waited patiently since Fred Perry’s 1936 US Open victory for their next British Grand Slam champion, the No.5 seed has a cunning plan.
“Just play better,” says the 22-year-old from Dunblane in Scotland. “I have a game that can cause Roger problems. I need to play my best tennis for five sets to beat him.”
Murray has caused world No.1 Federer his fair share of problems over the years. He is the only player in the top 10 other than Rafael Nadal to hold a winning head-to-head record over the Swiss Maestro, having beaten Federer on six of the 10 occasions they have played on the ATP World Tour since their first meeting in Bangkok in 2005 (which Federer won 6-3 7-5).
Knowledge of that win/loss record will form a critical component of the Brit’s armory heading into tonight’s final.
“Any time you win against him is great,” says Murray. “If it was one win against nine losses it would be a little bit different but that’s not the case. I played him a lot of times, so I know the way you need to play against him. I’ve watched pretty much all of his Grand Slam finals, bits of them at least. I’ve watched so many of his matches that I know how he plays.”
Murray may well say that he knows what to expect from Federer in the final but he’s by no means underestimating the 15-time Grand Slam singles champion. “His record in Slams is incredible. This is pretty much the same in other tournaments as well. He’s had the few odd upsets here and there but his consistency is what has been so amazing the last seven, eight years.”
Federer is a formidable opponent and Grand Slam finals don’t come around every day of the week so Murray has made changes to his regular routine since beating Marin Cilic in Thursday’s semifinal, limiting himself to light practice sessions at Melbourne Park over the past three days.
“It’s not like any other match because obviously there’s different pressure being a Grand Slam final,” he says. “Because you have a couple of days you don’t want to be over-thinking the match, playing it over too many times in your head. You just need to try and not think about it if that’s possible. Get away from it. (I’ve) been watching some movies, some comedy DVDs, to get my mind off it.”
Support for the men’s finalists will be divided at Rod Laver Arena tonight but Murray can be certain that success-hungry British fans watching from home in the early hours of Sunday morning will be right behind their man as he steps onto court for this, the final of the 17th Grand Slam tournament he’s contested.
“I’ve had a lot of good luck messages from friends and family from back home,” he says. “(I’m) just trying to stay focused for another couple of days, not think about everything that’s going on back home. Then I’ll have some time to take it all in after the tournament’s finished.”
Following Juan Martin Del Potro’s victory at the 2009 US Open, Murray has inadvertently singled himself out as the only member of the top five that has not won a Grand Slam title, but the world No.4 believes that he has come a long way since he lost to Federer in the 2008 US Open final.
“I was only 20. I mean, 20 was pretty young when I played my first Slam final. It was a year and a half, two years (ago). I just feel physically more mature, mentally more mature. Just a lot more experienced in these sort of situations.”
While taking on 15-time Grand Slam champion Federer, and beating him on the court where he has already claimed three Australian Open titles, is undeniably a tall order, Murray fans can take heart from the fact that Federer too made his fare share of Grand Slam appearances before claiming his first major at Wimbledon in 2003; 17 to be precise.
Watch the 2010 Australian Open live online at bet365 > Live Streaming Tennis