by Stephen Lars on Aug.19, 2010, under Sports News, Tennis
Andy Murray had a great weekend. Not only did he defeat Roger Federer in the final of the Rogers Cup at Toronto, but he defeated both Federer and Rafa Nadal while defending the tournament he won last year.
Murray has had two previous chances at a Grand Slam final: the US Open in 2008, and the Australian Open earlier this season. On both ocassions, he fell slightly short to Roger Federer. So this one feels quite good for the Scottish player. Andy Murray was able to put down Roger Federer in two straight sets, 7-5, 7-5.
It seemed as if Roger Federer was just unable to pick up the pace and somehow find his rhythm. This was the Federer Express’ first tournament since was eliminated on the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Just for the record, he had been the most dominant player in the recent years to play in the All English Club. But truth be said, there had been somewhat of a drop in his performance ever since he won the Australian Open, his 16th grand slam, early in the season. This was also Federer’s first game since joining his new coach, Paul Annacone.
Anyhow, it was not a bad result at all for Federer, who still did not manage to win, but certainly showed an improvement over the previous months. Andy Murray, on the other hand, had one heck of a tournament. He has always excelled in the hard courts, as his game is most efficient on fast courts. Murray kept playing from the base with his usual, reserved and cautious game. He is not a risk taker. Lets be frank, Murray is quite a defensive player. He relies mostly on his good counter punch, ad his very solid groundstroke.
Despite Federer’s efforts to brake, Murray was simply too quick, to good at anticipating his opponents shots that it was clear that he would not allow Federer to close in on the 1 point gap he held out even when the Swiss was pushing him the hardest. Then there was also a whole new deal with the weather.
The game was constantly suspended for rain delays. As a matter of fact, from the beginning to the end, the game was stopped by the officials at least three different times. Roger Federer has said that Murray deserved to win the Rogers Cup. He commented on the very little chances that Murray gave him throughout the day. Still he also made a remark concerning the rain and the weather.
In the press conference Federer said: “The rain delays completely kind of shut it down for me to get any kind of rhythm.” Later about the continuity of the match he said the following:
