By Bob Stockton
It will be Roger Federer versus Andy Murray in the men’s singles final at the 2010 Australian Open, after Federer thumped a not-in-form Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in sulky semifinal Friday night in Melbourne.
Will this final serve as a changing of the guard in men’s tennis? Or will Federer’s reign of terror over men’s tennis continue?
Federer will be seeking his 16th major singles title and will play in his 22nd career major final – both all-time men’s records – and will look to further cement his legacy as the greatest tennis player of all time. Federer will be seeking his fourth Australian title that will tie him with Andre Agassi for the most Aussie men’s singles titles in the Open era.
Murray will look to break through and win his first major title and end the 74-year absence for British men on major event champion scrolls. Fred Perry was the last British man to win a major title when he last won the 1936 U.S. title. He is the last Brit to win the Australian title when he won Down Under in 1934. Murray is the first British man to reach the Australian Open men’s final since John Lloyd, who lost the 1977 Australian final to Vitas Gerulaitis in five sets. Murray’s first and only other Grand Slam tournament final came at the 2008 U.S. Open, where he lost to Federer 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.
Tennis pundits have tried to predict when the Federer era would start to end – and the chatter will continue heading into this final. In 2008, when Federer lost his No. 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal and “only” managed to win one major title during the year, experts predicted that his eventual downfall had begun. Federer re-bounded in 2009 to reach all four major finals and won his elusive first French title – earning Federer a career Grand Slam – while also winning his sixth Wimbledon title. However, Federer faltered in the 2009 US Open final, falling to rising Argentine star Juan Martin del Potro, in another match that could have signified the start of the changing of the guard.
“If Murray wins, there will be legitimate talk about him being No 1 in the world,” said Patrick McEnroe on ESPN2. “I am so excited for this final. It has the making of being an absolute classic.”
Murray leads the head-to-head with Federer 6-4 — Federer winning the last meeting between the two at the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Federer’s 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 win in the final of the 2008 US Open is the only match the two have played in a major tournament and their only best-of-five set match meeting.
Brad Gilbert, Murray’s former coach, now with ESPN2, said on air that Murray has been gunning for Federer and wants to take out the world No. 1 in a major final even more after watching del Potro beat the Swiss maestro in last September’s US Open final. Gilbert said that Murray expected that he would be the first of the next generation of players to knock off Federer in a major final. Now in Australia, Murray has his chance. Gilbert also pointed out that Federer won his first major title at age 22 at Wimbledon in 2003, playing in his 17th career major tournament and that Murray is now 22 and the 2010 Australian Open is his 17th career major.
Against Tsonga, Federer said used very little energy in winning in one hour, 28 minutes. He lost only 15 points in 13 service games in the rout. Tsonga could not muster the same performance from his 2008 Australian Open semifinal appearance when he destroyed world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets Quipped McEnroe, “Talk about a stress free semifinal,” Said Gilbert, “This was blow out city, really disappointing. Murray’s practice was harder than that match today.”
The 88-minute semifinal benefitted Federer heading into Sunday’s final as Murray enters the championship match with 24 hours more rest than Federer, having won his semifinal Thursday night against Marin Cilic. Murray, however, needed four sets to subdue the Croatian, after losing the first set.
In his post-match interview with ESPN2’s Darren Cahill, Federer said he thinks the first set will be key against Murray, saying “The first set is more crucial for him than me, because he has never won a Grand Slam before.”
“I am not surprised he made it to the final,” Federer continued about Murray. “He has loads of expectations, but he has handled it well. He will go out there believing he can beat me.”
McEnroe analyzed the Federer-Murray final to be played between the two best movers in men’s tennis and two of the best defenders on this court surface. The forecast in Melbourne for Sunday is for temperatures in the high 90s, creating hot and fast conditions, which according to Gilbert, will help Murray, who likes the faster conditions more than Federer. Gilbert predicted Murray to win the final in five sets. McEnroe gave Federer the slight edge. Said McEnroe of Federer and Murray, “They both want a piece of each other.”