In a blog that I wrote the day before the start of Wimbledon, I suggested that Federer appeared to have lost his mojo while Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were clearly emerging as the two dominant players. After all, they had split nine of the last ten grand slam titles between them. After Nadal made an uncharacteristic exit in round two and Federer breezed past Djokovic to reach the final for a potential record-tying seventh title, I am doing a reset. I guess I should not have prematurely written off a man with sixteen grand slam titles and a nickname Fed-Ex!
As the first Brit – or Scott, depending on whether he wins or loses – to play in a Wimbledon final since 1938, Andy Murray represents the hopes of a nation trying to regain the glory days of British tennis when Fred Perry won a career grand slam and also held the title of World Champion in Table Tennis.
While winning against Federer may appear to be a stretch for Murray, he does have a realistic shot at winning Wimbledon this year. It is probably not common knowledge that Murray has beaten Federer eight out of the fifteen times they have played against each other. What Murray does not have is a win in a grand slam tournament, which brings into question his ability to close the deal when it matters.
Well, if his current passing shots are any indication, Murray is clearly not pulling any punches. Federer may want to re-think rushing the net!
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Guess there are not enough big publicized squash tournaments for bookies to be interested in giving odds on.
Federer was impressive. His ruthless domination of the Scotsman left me convinced that his racquet work and footwork be good enough to make him a competitive house league-level squash player.
Almost!
🙂
I do not think you were wrong. This is just Federer’s last moment of lucidity, his final hurrah before its all over. Becker, Sampras and Aggasi all won (or got to the finals of) that last unexpected major before they faded away…
Good point! Though Federer will regain top ranking if he wins today; technically a long way from “fading away.”
The pressure’s on Murray. I don’t think he has the mental toughness to simultaneously handle the on- and off-court pressure. I think he will crumble under the exorbitant expectations of an entire nation. To make things worse for him, Federer has to be riding a confidence high after getting by the world’s number 1 player.
My prediction; Fed in four.
You got lucky, just had to read the odds on the big time English bookies
Bookies? Tennis players *need* bookies to explain their game to them; I’m a squash player, we just *know* this stuff. 🙂
I have a been told, by a tennis enthusiast member, that Murray, will probably retire mid match, due to injury.
Once bitten, twice shy!
So, you are basically sitting on the fence with this one. You did not say who you thought would take this one. Friendly wager?