Federer’s 16th Major Title… And Counting

Monday, 01 February 2010 00:00

Swiss superstar Roger Federer captured his 16 th Grand Slam singles title in emphatic manner on Sunday, defeating No 5 seed Great Britain’s Andy Murray in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.

All the talks about Federer declining, since he passed Pete Sampras’ record 14 major titles, when getting his 15th with his 6th Wimbledon title last summer, were answered Sunday evening when the World No 1 won his fourth Australian Open final.

After winning the French Open at Roland Garros for the first time, then Wimbledon, and becoming the father of twin girls shortly after, Federer lost the US Open final to Juan Martin del Potro, again the final in his hometown Basel to Novak Djokovic, in Paris in his opening round, and ended the season with a loss to Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals in November.

However, he retained the world No 1 ranking and was the ATP World Tour Champion for 2009.

When he lost again to Davydenko in the Qatar Open semi-finals to start the 2010 season, many thought the 28-year-old Swiss wasn’t so hungry anymore and jumped on Murray’s bandwagon as their favorite, when both men reached the final at the Australian Open, including most of the tennis specialists commenting the event from Melbourne Park.

A lot was riding on the Scot’s racket, the first British player to reach the Australian Open final since John Lloyd in 1977, and the buzz about Murray beating Federer brought a sarcastic comment from the Swiss after he crushed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 88 minutes on the semi-final : “…The British haven’t won a slam for 150,000 years…etc…”

Federer showed he’s still the BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD, claiming a record 16th Major title, and I’m happy that there was never doubt in my mind.

A very emotional Murray was fighting tears during his speech on-court, as Federer did last year at the trophy presentation after his 5-set loss to Rafael Nadal. “I can cry like Roger; it’s a shame I can’t play like him,” Murray joked.

And Federer complimented the Scot when his turn came “ Your game is too good not to win a major, don’t worry.”

On a very hot evening at Rod Laver Arena, Federer broke Murray at love for a 2-0 lead in the first set, but the Scot broke back immediately to pull even. However, Federer broke again in the eighth game of the first and third game of second, with no response from Murray, and took a two-set lead with both men fighting hard from the baseline.

“I thought it was very physical at the beginning,” said Federer. “We both wanted to win the long rallies, and the start was crucial because it was so intense.”

The World No 1 had never lost a Grand Slam Match after leading 2 sets to love, but his intensity decreased as a few unforced errors started creeping in his game, mostly caused by a more aggressive Murray who hit the ball harder and with more pace since the start of the third set.

At 2-3 Federer fell to 0/40 and Murray converted on his third break point to take a 4-2 lead, and consolidated on his serve to go 5-2. Serving at 5-3, Murray seemed to be rolling and looked confident that he would send the match in a fourth set, to the delight of the crowd. That’s when the top seed earned his first break points of the set and pulled back at 5 games apiece.

The third set went to a tie-break, and WHAT A TIE-BREAK IT WAS !!

Murray took a 3-1 advantage, but Federer fought back and they changed sides at 3-3. Murray got two set points at 6-4, but a forehand winner by Federer and a missed forehand-sitter by the Scot to win the set saw the second side-change at 6-6. Murray earned three more set points that he couldn’t convert, and Federer got his first championship points at 8-7 and 10-9, with another side- switch at 9-9.

After Murray netted a return on his fifth set point, Federer took the next two to end the match with a 13-11 win in the third set tie-break, claiming his fourth Australian Open title.

Murray, who also lost in three sets to Federer in the 2008 US Open final, felt he had a better showing this time: “ Tonight’s match was a lot closer than the one at Flushing Meadows. I had a chance at the beginning of the match, and I had chances at the end of the match.”

Although Federer won in straight sets, the contest was always close, and a few points made the difference at clutch time.

“I always knew it was going to be a very intense match,” said Federer. “I’m happy I was able to play so aggressively and patiently at the same time because that’s what you got to be against Murray. I think I played a great match. So someone’s got to win, and I’m happy it was me.”

This is the first Major tournament of the year, is Roger Federer capable to produce a calendar Grand Slam ?

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Federer’s 16th Major Title… And Counting

Federer’s 16th Major Title… And Counting

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