The History of Men's Tennis (Open Era)

(3)Roger Federer d. (4)Andy Murray        4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4            [3:24 h]

After four consecutive Djokovic-Nadal finals, fortunately some refreshing change, but only in some sense because Federer and Murray had already played two major finals before, however it happened in New York and Melbourne (funny coincidence – they never met beyond finals at majors) #. It only confirms how amazingly tight is the peak of men’s tennis consisted of four excellent players. There hasn’t been a Grand Slam final without at least one of them since Australian Open 2005 (!), when Marat Safin dismissed Lleyton Hewitt.
There has been an enormous amount of pressure put on Murray’s shoulders for many years at Wimbledon, but the 25-year-old Scot had obtained a required experience in three lost major finals to start another final in front of the home audience in a good style. No sign of hesitation in his initial hard strokes from both wings could intimidate a bit the 16-time Grand Slam champion. The level of tennis in the first two sets was astonishing, both guys displayed a rich arsenal of mixed rotations and rapid, flat shots from all angles of the court. Stats of the final.
Murray jumped into a 2:0* (deuce) lead when Federer got into the final and had a mini-set point at 4:3 – “the eternal No. 4” played a deep backhand-volley underneath the level of the net-cord to force Federer’s lob error. The Scot broke in the 9th game to clinch the set with a bunch of good serves. It’s admirable how many times during the fortnight he dealt very well with tight sets… Unfortunately for his fans it wasn’t a case in the 2nd set. Murray was winning his service games much more easier. He could break Federer twice: first at 2-all – Federer fought off a double break point with a smash and service winner. At 4:4, Murray had two mini-set points, and really great chance to convert the first opportunity – sent an easy backhand long, Federer withstood the second threat again with a smash. *5:6 (30/0), a tie-break seemed inevitable. Murray served a ball which could give him an ace and comfortable ’40/0′ but it called ‘out’ (Federer already moved himself to change the boxes) and the momentum shifted. The Scottish player made two errors, and Federer showed his magic at 30-all winning another two points with brilliant volleys, transforming in those rallies the defense onto the offense in a split second with crucial inside-out forehands. Ivan Lendl‘s face blushed in that moment (he was sitting almost the entire match in the same pose covering the mouth with fingers of his left hand). Apparently he knew the exceptional chance of his pupil would irretrievably evaporate.
The Swiss led 40/0 in the 3rd game of the 3rd set when heavy rain fell and the roof was activated – the final changed its conditions from outdoor to indoor 39 minutes afterwards. Nothing indicated that 6th game could turn into – perhaps – the longest game of this year’s event. Murray led 40/0 and Federer played a nonchalant backhand return – it was a clean winner, and the finalists were caught in a 20-minute marathon game consisted of 10 deuces, Murray found himself  on the ground three times in that game, every time losing points, he also threw his racquet (softly) the only time during the fortnight, and finally lost his serve despite 7 game points, which was decisive for the final outcome. Federer was more and more relaxed whilst Murray’s fitness seemed suspicious, it’s not a matter of his body language which often is deceptive, simply the average speed & accuracy of his 1st serve dropped, and loose errors crept into his game. Federer made a crucial break at 2:2 in the 4th set with a beautiful cross-court backhand passing-shot. During the last change of ends, Murray received a huge support from the crowd chanting “Mur-Ray, Mur-Ray!!”. He opened the last game with a successful backhand passing-shot, but Federer got quickly the next three points and converted the second match point as Murray’s diagonal passing-shot landed just by inches outside the near sideline. The Swiss enjoyed his big success falling on grass. It’s his 17th Grand Slam title, 7th Wimbledon, which means he equals Pete Sampras‘ record and breaks a record of the American for the most weeks spent at No. 1 ## Murray for the first time in career loses three straight finals, and makes a new record (infamous one) – the most major finals played without a title ### He was very emotional during the ceremony, he almost cried when the crowd was trying to encourage him to say a few words. On the post-match conference he said: “Today [was] pretty hard, because you’re playing in front of a [British] crowd like that. The atmosphere was unbelievable, one of the best I’ve played in. [My] whole family had come to watch. So, yeah, it’s tough.” adding words full of respect towards Federer: “He could be sitting on 20 Grand Slams [but for] one point or a couple inches here or there. So he’s still playing great tennis. I don’t think you get to [World] No. 1 unless you deserve it.” The Swiss maestro stated: “This year, I guess, I decided in the bigger matches, to take it more to my opponent instead of waiting a bit more for the mistakes. This is, I guess, how you want to win Wimbledon, by going after your shots, believing you can do it, and that’s what I was able to do today. It’s special.” Now the best players in the world have three weeks off only to play ‘Wimbledon-2’, so the Olympic games at the same venue 🙂

 Doubles final:
J.Marray/F.Nielsen d. (5)R.Lindstedt/H.Tecau 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3

# Pairs to play in three (or more) different major finals (record of those finals in parenthesis):

4 – Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal (3-2)
3 – Mats Wilander vs. Ivan Lendl (3-2, never played at Wimbledon)
3 – Pete Sampras vs. Andre Agassi (4-1, never played final in Paris)
3 – Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer (7-2, never played in New York)
3 – Roger Federer vs. Andy Murray (3-0, never played in Paris)

## Most Wimbledon finals:

8 – Roger Federer (7 wins – 1 loss)
7 – Pete Sampras (7-0), Boris Becker (3-4)
6 – Bjorn Borg (5-1), Jimmy Connors (2-4)
5 – John McEnroe (3-2), Rafael Nadal (2-3)

Most weeks at No. 1:

1. Roger Federer & Pete Sampras – 286 *
3. Ivan Lendl – 270
4. Jimmy Connors – 268
5. John McEnroe – 170

* Federer has guaranteed overcoming Sampras’ record

### Most major finals not having won a title:

4 – Andy Murray (2008-12)
3 – Tony Roche (1968-70) *
2 – Steve Denton (1981-82), Miloslav Mecir (1986-89), Cedric Pioline (1993-97), Todd Martin (1994-99), Alex Corretja (1998-01), Mark Philippoussis (1998-03), Robin Soderling (2009-10)

* Roche won Roland Garros in the pre-Open era (1966)

 2nd semifinal:

(4)Andy Murray d. (5)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga            6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5                   [2:47 h]

Not facing one out of three giants of the modern game in a Grand Slam semifinal it’s a unique opportunity, so it was a huge chance for both players to reach the final of the most important tournament in tennis. For Murray it was 4th consecutive semifinal attempt in London, for Tsonga second in a row. The roof had been open after the first semifinal, rain didn’t fall and the entire match was played outdoors. Jo-Wilfried is very tough to break on grass, en route to the semifinal he was broken only four times, but Murray is one of the best return players in the world, perhaps the best on grass, and managed to break Tsonga four times as well. The Scot showed his amazing defensive skills as early as in Tsonga’s opening service game when he returned-in a couple of bombs and made one incredible backhand passing-shot. The match was under his control through the first two sets, Tsonga was playing more aggressively than in his previous matches (there were sequences of constant serve-and-volley attacks), but it wasn’t efficient enough until the 3rd set when Murray had a “nap” for about 10 minutes, and the Frenchman established a 3:0 lead which was vital in that set despite Murray’s pursuit. Murray woke up since the first point of the 4th set and he was trying to encourage himself after almost every winning point. He built a *3:1 (30/30) lead – in that moment Tsonga manifested his unpredictability getting two important points thanks to one-handed backhands. At 4:3 Murray squandered two mini-match points, falling on the ground on both occasions! It could have been a turning point because in the following game Tsonga had a double mini-set point – Murray survived it with two unreturned services, the second one after casual 2nd serve – Tsonga risked forehand return and missed. As I mentioned after Murray’s match against Ferrer, the Scot always wins 4th set tie-break, so he was quite relaxed when he held his service game to lead 6:5. Tsonga helped a bit in the last game of the match producing three unforced errors… Double match point: good serve, Tsonga goes to the net, Murray passes with a forehand. The ball is called ‘out’, but both players seem to know the ball was good which confirms Murray’s challenge. Tsonga congratulates hugging Murray, who has tears in his eyes. For the time being he proves that deserves No. 4 in the world, however, if he wants to finally move further (in the end of the season) he needs to beat Federer on Sunday… It’s the end of the 74-year-old drought for the British tennis in Wimbledon men’s finals (Bunny Austin was outplayed by Don Budge  in 1938). In the Open Era the British fans suffered nine semifinal defeats of their favorites:

Roger Taylor (1970, 73)
Tim Henman (1998-99, 2001-02)
Andy Murray (2009-11)

1st semifinal:

(3)Roger Federer d. (1)Novak Djokovic         6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3                       [2:19 h]

It’s a special time at the top of the men’s tennis, almost every match involving two out of three best players in the world has more at stake than just beating an arch-rival to get a final or a trophy. This time Federer entering the court, had a chance to regain the top spot (he has to win also the final to do it) tying Pete Sampras‘ record of the most weeks on No. 1 and become the first man to play eight Wimbledon finals; Djokovic in turn, could equal Nadal’s accomplishment of reaching five consecutive Grand Slam finals (it’s something even Rod Laver had not done in the Open era; Federer played ten in a row!). Anyway they’ve created a common new record for the most meetings at majors – 11 #.
The weather afternoon was bad which forced the officials to close the roof. Tim Henman and Boris Becker commentating this match for a TV sport channel, agreed that indoor conditions would favor Federer, and they were right. The level of play disappointed, especially in the opening, reflex two sets. “First blood” came in the 6th game as serving Djokovic dived unsuccessfully at 30-all. Trying to save the first break point he missed a backhand and the set was pretty much over. The Serb finally read Federer’s serve a couple times in the 2nd game of the 2nd set and broke him to 15 producing aggressive ground-strokes. The crowd waited until the 6th game of the 3rd set to see the first and one of very few excellent rallies – it was a break point for Federer, Djokovic won the point and showed first emotions. He had a mini-set point at 4-all but Federer responded with three service winners in a row. The crucial point of the match occurred with Djokovic serving to stay in the set in the following game. He was 15/30 down and played too cautiously from a very good position, Federer defended himself with a moon-lob and the Serb missed an overhead. He saved the first set point but on the second one, Federer outmaneuvered his opponent and finished the point with a smash. Apparently the tense 3rd set cost Djokovic a lot mentally because he made a few untypical baseline rallies at the beginning of the 4th set and found himself quickly at 0:3 down, which meant he had lost five consecutive games. Federer was fresh and his serve was working amazingly. Even when the Serbian player came back from a triple break point at 1:4 and two points away from defeat at 2:5, Federer didn’t show any sign of uncertainty, and finished the semifinal with two solid service winners. I think it’s worth underlying he got many points throughout the match directly after 2nd serve, IMO it was something what differed them the most. “If he wins and becomes No. 1, it’s going to be well deserved,” Djokovic said. “He’s played fantastic this year. He’s been so consistent. If he wins, he wins. There’s nothing I can do about it. The best player will win this tournament. I’m out.”

# Most matches at majors:

11 – Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic (6-5)
10 – Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer (8-2)
10 – Ivan Lendl vs. John McEnroe (7-3)

Roger Federer and Andy Murray, just like last year were designated to play their matches on Centre Court, even the order was the same, first Federer, then Murray. Before the quarterfinals, the Scot said: “A lot of people have said to me that the quality of matches at the end of the Grand Slams has been unbelievable the last few years. People like seeing that, but I think upsets are part of any sport. […] They haven’t happened that much over the last few years in slams, but they will start happening more. I don’t think consistency from the top players can continue that much.” For the time being I think the gap between “eternal” fourth best player Murray, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is very narrow, and perhaps either Spaniard or Frenchman will remove Murray from the No. 4 at the end of the year  (on the assumption he doesn’t win a major), especially that the British hope has plenty of points to defend in the second half of the season.

4th quarterfinal:

(4)Andy Murray d. (7)David Ferrer             6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-6(4)   [3:52 h]

Others great players of the 60’s and 70’s (Manolo Santana, Vijay Amritraj and Roger Taylor) joined Laver and Agassi to watch the most entertaining quarterfinal. Murray and Ferrer create very interesting match-up: Murray has better serve and more natural volley game, but Ferrer is more consistent from the baseline thus their matches are well balanced – mental resistance, physical preparation, shot selection and pure luck separate them when they face each other. They had already played long 4-setters in Melbourne and Paris, since London ’12 they’ve added another long 4-setter to their rivalry, a more dramatic one than two previous. Actually every set could have ended with a different outcome. Murray was two points away to take the first set tie-break but hit the net-cord with a cross-court backhand at 5-all. In the 2nd set Ferrer served for the set at 5:4 (lost to 15), in the tie-break led 5:2* and 6:5 (Murray saved the set point with an inside-out forehand – directly after Ferrer’s weak return). In the 3rd set the Spaniard had a game point to lead 5:4, but on ‘deuce’, Murray delivered two winning returns in a row. In the 4th set, Ferrer had 40/15 leading 4:3 (Murray four times escaped from a double break point). At 5-all the match was suspended for 24 minutes due to rain. After the resumption they both held services to “love” and the British crowd saw the third tie-break. Murray got the crucial mini-break at 5:3 with a winner down the line. His serve didn’t let him down at 5:4 – a service winner was followed up with an ace down the middle… The serve was the key factor for the Scot – he obtained thanks to 1st serves the most valuable points throughout the long battle. In terms of scorelines, Murray works on entrenched patterns – he has never lost first two sets tie-breaks (so close today) and always wins a 4th set tie-break leading two-sets-to-one # He has done it twice against Ferrer, last year in Melbourne also saved a set point in the 2nd set. “Obviously the goal now is to win the next match and try and get through to the final for the first time. I’m obviously happy. I’ve had a good run here the last few years, but I’m not satisfied with that. I want to try and go further.” analyzed Murray. “I think the key was in the second set, when I had one set point in the tie-break,” said Ferrer for whom it’s the end of the best streak on grass – 9 wins in succession. “But Andy, in important moments he played really good. He played more aggressive than me, and he was better.” Indeed, Murray was very aggressive and it paid dividents in the end.

# Murray’s 4-set wins with a 4th set tie-break:

US Open 2008: M.Llodra 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6
Ausralian Open 2011: D.Ferrer 4-6, 7-6, 6-1, 7-6
Wimbledon 2011: I.Ljubicic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6
US Open 2011: J.Isner 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6
Wimbledon 2012: I.Karlovic 7-5, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6
Wimbledon 2012: D.Ferrer 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6

3rd quarterfinal:

(5)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. (27)Philipp Kohlschreiber       7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2       [2:48 h]

Their rivalry reminds in some sense of the Federer-Youzhny one – two guys display similar stuff but always wins one of them. Obviously ‘Ali’ Tsonga and Kohlschreiber play backhands otherwise and their behavior is completely different but there’s resemblance in the way they think about gathering points, especially on faster surfaces. There’s a huge psychological difference between them though, and manifest itself in crucial stages of sets. After the match Tsonga leads 6-1 in their H2H but fully 7-0 in tie-breaks! This time there were played two breakers, even if the German cut the lead in the first one from 1:6 to 5:6 his facial expression was skeptical – Tsonga hit an ace DTL. In the second tie-break Tsonga was more concentrated and converted already the first chance. Kohlschreiber is one of the best 5-set players but hadn’t plenty left in the tank (it was his 12th match on grass this season – more than anyone) and lost his service twice in the set No. 4. Tsonga repeats his result from the last year’s event when he advanced to the semis stunning Federer on Centre Court. Stats of the match

2nd quarterfinal:

(1)Novak Djokovic d. (31)Florian Mayer         6-4, 6-1, 6-4                          [1:45 h]

‘Flo’ with his unorthodox tennis is able to steal some time before the best guys adjust themselves to his untypical proposal. In this match Djokovic needed a short rain-break to do this (the match was halted in the 8th game, Mayer led with a break early on). When they came back on court the Serb confirmed his superiority winning 8 out of 10 games. It was pretty one-sided quarterfinal, albeit Mayer had his slight chances in two sets – led 40/0 on return at 4-all in the 1st set and 30/0 at 4:3 in the 3rd – nonetheless Djokovic came up with big serves in the most vital moments, in the last game too, when he saved three break points and finished the contest with an ace down the middle. “After the first set, he played unbelievable, especially in the second set,” said Mayer. “He showed why he’s the best player right now in the world. He left me no chance in the second set. If I could have won the first set, maybe I would have had a small chance. But still it’s very, very tough to beat him.” Djokovic said before the clay-court season that Nadal would be the ultimate challenge on clay, I think he’d say the same thing about Federer on grass. Admittedly ‘Nole’ is the defending champion but never met Federer on grass, thus beating him on this surface might preserve Djokovic’s dominance in men’s tennis in a wider context. Stats of the match.

1st quarterfinal:

(3)Roger Federer d. (26)Mikhail Youzhny           6-1, 6-2, 6-2                [1:32 h]

Sometimes when two players face each other, both with similar game-styles, wins easily the one who plays every shot simply better. It’s the case of the Federer-Youzhny rivalry. The Russian in my opinion is one of the most talented players of his generation but he is just a much more weaker reflection of Federer. When they met for the fourth time (Halle 2003), Youzhny played a tie-break after winning the 1st set, it was their only match when the Russian was within a couple points of beating his Swiss peer (Fed is ten months older to be precise). Because he had lost most of their matches quickly, a good beginning of every another meeting is exceptionally important. This time it didn’t happen from Youzhny’s perspective, he led 40/0 in his opening service game but collapsed after 5th break point sending two easy backhands out. Good start usually gives Federer a nice cushion to deliver his best tennis – he was majestic throughout while Youzhny couldn’t do anything until a game when he faced a triple match point on serve – he managed then to win five straight points in a good fashion to efface a bit bad impression he left in front of tennis legends and former Wimbledon champions, Rod Laver witnessed the match in a box were also sitting Andre Agassi with his wife Steffi Graf. Federer leads now with Youzhny 14-0 in H2H, having lost just 3 sets and is two wins away from reclaiming No. 1 ranking.