Wimbledon – final

(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)