This version of Murray much better than 2012-2013.

[Alchemist]

Despite of result of the match I still believes Murray improved al lot in 4 months break.It was general agreement was Murray won't able to give his best after back surgery.but I think it was really minor and Andy took great desicion to solve his 'Back Issue'.

He is now hitting big Forehands,serving 200+ Kmph,running like Rabbit from corner to corner.He really outclassed Federer Forehand ( Which is considered as 'Best Ever' ) at the end of the third set and start of the fourth.(He is often criticised for having 'Weak Forehand')

Now coming to defense it's also improved a lot specially on Forehand side.
His lobs and passing shots were excellent.

He just lost to a player when he is on 'Match on his Stick'. I truly believes this Murray would have beaten Nadal in Semis if Federer wouldn't have stopped him.

Now my prediction is he will emerge as 'Biggest Rival' of Rafa in 2014 surpassing Surb.There is nothing stopping Murray if he playes like this consistently.

Federer won't maintaining this level through out the year as he at 32 but Andy needs to change his mentality slightly to achieve No 1 Ranking.

 

[tennis_pro]

I'm sure he feels stronger than ever having been routined by a 32,5-year old, nearly retired Federer on a slow hard court.

 

[JRAJ1988]

I just hope, really hope his back issues are OVER.

I've never seen Murray like he was vs Federer, he had more fight in him even though Federer was the better player...and he never said "die"

When Murray is aggressive he's as good as anyone, just needs to stop being passive especially when his opponents are called Roger Federer.

 

[JRAJ1988]

I'm sure he feels stronger than ever having been routined by a 32,5-year old, nearly retired Federer on a slow hard court.

Haters have to hate don't they?

 

[Alchemist]

I'm sure he feels stronger than ever having been routined by a 32,5-year old, nearly retired Federer on a slow hard court.

Sorry but I strongly disagree with you.Federer in 'God Mode' can knock of any opponent on any surface.He have enough variety in his game so he prevented Murray executing his own baseline game.but I can't see that variety in players in his own generation to break his rhythm.( Djokovic , Nadal , Potro ).

 

[Alchemist]

I just hope, really hope his back issues are OVER.

I've never seen Murray like he was vs Federer, he had more fight in him even though Federer was the better player...and he never said "die"

When Murray is aggressive he's as good as anyone, just needs to stop being passive especially when his opponents are called Roger Federer.

In my opinion his back issue is solved now and his Forehand and Serve are more dangerous than ever.This Murray can Knock off Djokovic,Nadal but not In form Federer(Which will be rare). SO it's safe tom say He will dominate Tennis after his break though results tells different story.Sometimes they lie. Never Underestimste his Forehand,'Never Die Attitude',Defense in that match.

He was just outclassed by 'Swiss Maesto' but I have another view considering his generation.Murray is most talented in his generation and now with Weapon and that attitude is unbratable, We can say it's Murray 3.0.

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Did you see the errors he was making towards the end of that match? Gee.

 

[Deleted member 3771]

No, Murray was underdone, he was less fit and moving worse now after the surgery. His average groundies were 10k/hr slower than last years AO match vs Fed and he couldn't arch his back on serve and power his serve as well after a set or 2.

 

[tennisaddict]

No, Murray was underdone, he was less fit and moving worse now after the surgery. His average groundies were 10k/hr slower than last years AO match vs Fed and he couldn't arch his back on serve and power his serve as well after a set or 2.

Keep the excuses coming..

 

[roberttennis54]

No, Murray was underdone, he was less fit and moving worse now after the surgery. His average groundies were 10k/hr slower than last years AO match vs Fed and he couldn't arch his back on serve and power his serve as well after a set or 2.

Very true, this match is meaningless when comparing the two. I hope Murray's back is okay.

 

[TennisLovaLova]

I'm not a specific fan of his tennis, but today Murray displayed some tremendous fighting spirit.
And he's proving that he's definetly not the pusher he used to be.

 

[BHiC]

I'm sure he feels stronger than ever having been routined by a 32,5-year old, nearly retired Federer on a slow hard court.

The fact that the court is slow benefits Fed much more than Murray. For someone just coming back from an injury, this wasn't too bad of a result.

 

[Mainad]

Clearly he is not yet up to his 2012-2013 level. It's a bit bizarre to say otherwise.

The Murray of those years, especially the one who played Federer in last year's semi, would almost certainly have won today's match IMO. Compared to last year, Murray couldn't serve as well or hit the ball with the same length and penetration he did back then. It was noticeable that he didn't hit many down the line backhands which he was doing before. He was clearly flagging towards the end of that 4th set and wouldn't have had much left in the tank even if he could have taken it to a 5th.

His recovery is a work in progress. He has only played 7 tour level matches since his back surgery (2 in Doha and 5 at the AO). He did really well to make it to the quarters in his first Slam back on tour.

Hopefully he will start to get back to his former level as the season progresses. We can only wait and see.

 

[roberttennis54]

Clearly he is not yet up to his 2012-2013 level. It's a bit bizarre to say otherwise.

The Murray of those years, especially the one who played Federer in last year's semi, would almost certainly have won today's match IMO. Compared to last year, Murray couldn't serve as well or hit the ball with the same length and penetration he did back then. It was noticeable that he didn't hit many down the line backhands which he was doing before. He was clearly flagging towards the end of that 4th set and wouldn't have had much left in the tank even if he could have taken it to a 5th.

His recovery is a work in progress. He has only played 7 tour level matches since his back surgery (2 in Doha and 5 at the AO). He did really well to make it to the quarters in his first Slam back on tour.

Hopefully he will start to get back to his former level as the season progresses. We can only wait and see.

Interesting when the same arguments about Federer were brought up in the matches against Murray you weren't so keen to agree with them. It's true though Murray was clearly not a 100% today and even Federer hinted at it. That's why matches have to be judged in the right context.

 

[nethawkwenatchee]

Despite of result of the match I still believes Murray improved al lot in 4 months break.It was general agreement was Murray won't able to give his best after back surgery.but I think it was really minor and Andy took great desicion to solve his 'Back Issue'.

He is now hitting big Forehands,serving 200+ Kmph,running like Rabbit from corner to corner.He really outclassed Federer Forehand ( Which is considered as 'Best Ever' ) at the end of the third set and start of the fourth.(He is often criticised for having 'Weak Forehand')

Now coming to defense it's also improved a lot specially on Forehand side.
His lobs and passing shots were excellent.

He just lost to a player when he is on 'Match on his Stick'. I truly believes this Murray would have beaten Nadal in Semis if Federer wouldn't have stopped him.

Now my prediction is he will emerge as 'Biggest Rival' of Rafa in 2014 surpassing Surb.There is nothing stopping Murray if he playes like this consistently.

Federer won't maintaining this level through out the year as he at 32 but Andy needs to change his mentality slightly to achieve No 1 Ranking.

This post had me a little baffled. I guess I disagree on just about all fronts, based on the match last night. If you watch the 2013 match Andy is hitting way deeper balls, and keeping Roger on the defense. Andy served much more aggressively in the 2013 match as well. He looked slow and tired the whole match last night. The quality of Rogers play really wasn't that high either IMO. Roger could have really exposed the Murray second serve better and shortened more points by coming in, Andy was dropping the ball short almost regularly. 2013 Andy was keeping the ball deep, making first serves, and attacking Rogers second serves very affectively. Andy was never going to win the match last night and you could see that very early... In earlier rounds it wasn't as evident because the opponents were giving a lot more free points away. Roger just played this match safe, which was the correct move. It was sad to watch. Hopefully he gets stronger with more matches under his belt.

 

[Alchemist]

Clearly he is not yet up to his 2012-2013 level. It's a bit bizarre to say otherwise.

The Murray of those years, especially the one who played Federer in last year's semi, would almost certainly have won today's match IMO. Compared to last year, Murray couldn't serve as well or hit the ball with the same length and penetration he did back then. It was noticeable that he didn't hit many down the line backhands which he was doing before. He was clearly flagging towards the end of that 4th set and wouldn't have had much left in the tank even if he could have taken it to a 5th.

His recovery is a work in progress. He has only played 7 tour level matches since his back surgery (2 in Doha and 5 at the AO). He did really well to make it to the quarters in his first Slam back on tour.

Hopefully he will start to get back to his former level as the season progresses. We can only wait and see.

I don't believe AO 2013 Murray would have won against Federer 2014 with great form.He can beat Nadal,Djokovic with his 'Baseline Game' and slices,lobs and some tactics but in form Federer is different thing.He is greatest tactician ever along with firepower from baseline.This kind of Federer beatable to only one man on the earth and that is King Rafa.but still Rafa never beats Federer with tactics but just exploiting his Backhand.
Federer almost finished the match with scoreline like 6-3 6-4 6-4/7-6.
Why he didn't manage execute his game was Federer didn't allow him to do so.2013 was worst year for Federer and Murray was still at peak level and Federer stretched Murray to 5 with just 'Fighting Spirit'.Murray needs to play extremely aggressive from start to end to beat Roger.(Which he was doing in 3rd and 4th set but that wasn't enough).

Now second bolded part- Yes Murray coming from Back Surgery and played few matches before losing to Federer but I never seen any signs 0f Decline.
As I stated earlier he outclassed Federer Forehand in 3rd set.Defense is stronger than 2013.Federer is also coming from injury and poor year since 2002 but he managed to beat 6 yr. young opponent ( Wimbledon Champion )
was impressive in my opinion.

I also like the attitude he shown to avoid straight set loss.

 

[Mainad]

Interesting when the same arguments about Federer were brought up in the matches against Murray you weren't so keen to agree with them. It's true though Murray was clearly not a 100% today and even Federer hinted at it. That's why matches have to be judged in the right context.

Federer has had back issues but he has never undergone surgery. That is the big difference. Because he is older, he cannot always deal with it as effectively as he used to. In last year's semi, Federer was playing well and still showing something of his great 2012 form. In fact it proved to be the last good match he was to play all season. Murray, today, was clearly not the player who faced him exactly 12 months ago and we all know why.

I have never ignored a player's obvious loss of form in a match-up, whoever they may be. When Federer is off form, for whatever reason, he turns into Fed-Error and makes heaps of UEs. Tonight he was obviously in great shape and form although not quite at the level of his 2012 or last year's semi although he was obviously closer to it than Murray was.

 

[roberttennis54]

Federer has had back issues but he has never undergone surgery. That is the big difference. Because he is older, he cannot always deal with it as effectively as he used to. In last year's semi, Federer was playing well and still showing something of his great 2012 form. In fact it proved to be the last good match he was to play all season. Murray, today, was clearly not the player who faced him exactly 12 months ago and we all know why.

I have never ignored a player's obvious loss of form in a match-up, whoever they may be. When Federer is off form, for whatever reason, he turns into Fed-Error and makes heaps of UEs. Tonight he was obviously in great shape and form although not quite at the level of his 2012 or last year's semi although he was obviously closer to it than Murray was.

There is no doubt about how badly Murray was effected today and it was an incredible fight from him. It was all about guts today. It's not just about Federer, but all players. Hewitt in particularly has had several surgeries and was finished after 2005. Great players can fight and beat the majority of guys even when they have trouble, but against other top guys they get found out. Things like Ferero's pox, Hewitt's injuries, Federer's mono, Edberg's back etc are going to effect the outcome of matches.

 

[Mainad]

I don't believe AO 2013 Murray would have won against Federer 2014 with great form.He can beat Nadal,Djokovic with his 'Baseline Game' and slices,lobs and some tactics but in form Federer is different thing.He is greatest tactician ever along with firepower from baseline.This kind of Federer beatable to only one man on the earth and that is King Rafa.but still Rafa never beats Federer with tactics but just exploiting his Backhand.

That's an extremely bizarre thing to say against a player who has had a consistently positive H2H against Federer, which is still in place even after tonight's match! Murray is the only player, apart from Nadal and Djokovic, who can consistently trouble Federer when both are on their game. The fact that he has beaten him in 3 big finals is proof of this eg. 2010 Toronto (Federer had beaten Djokovic in the semis), 2010 Shanghai (Federer had beaten both Soderling and Djokovic in the run-up). You cannpt suddenly turn around and argue that Federer had somehow lost his form when playing in those finals.

Federer almost finished the match with scoreline like 6-3 6-4 6-4/7-6.

Well, why didn't he then?

Why he didn't manage execute his game was Federer didn't allow him to do so.2013 was worst year for Federer and Murray was still at peak level and Federer stretched Murray to 5 with just 'Fighting Spirit'.Murray needs to play extremely aggressive from start to end to beat Roger.(Which he was doing in 3rd and 4th set but that wasn't enough).

As I've just said, Federer at 2013 AO, was still the back end of Federer 2012.
The 2013 AO semi was the last decent match he played in 2013. After that, he slumped badly and was in poor form for the rest of the year, porobably because his own back issues had kicked in again.

Now second bolded part- Yes Murray coming from Back Surgery and played few matches before losing to Federer but I never seen any signs 0f Decline.
As I stated earlier he outclassed Federer Forehand in 3rd set.Defense is stronger than 2013.Federer is also coming from injury and poor year since 2002 but he managed to beat 6 yr. young opponent ( Wimbledon Champion )
was impressive in my opinion.

Murray was only good in fits and starts. He fought hard, as he usually does, and managed to summon up enough energy to fight back in that 3rd set. But it was only a holding operation. The Murray of last year would have powered his way through as he did back then. Tonight's Murray was just not fit enough to do that.

Federer is in good form and showed it tonight. He hardly made any errors. He always seems to be in good form for the AO. I've rarely ever seen him play a bad match there.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Murray wasn't at 100% fastgrass. It was the first tournament he got past the second round in since his back surgery in September. Try again.

 

[90's Clay]

He's a SHELL of what he was in 2012 and some of last year. Hes like Pre-Lendl Murray again, just a mess

He should have held off on Surgery

 

[Deleted member 307496]

He's a SHELL of what he was in 2012 and some of last year. Hes like Pre-Lendl Murray again, just a mess

He should have held off on Surgery

He's nothing like Pre-Lendl. He has a lot more fight and vigor than he had back then. He was rusty and not in top form during this AO. Some early reports suggested he might not have even played this AO and that Murray was not 100% sure if he would.

 

[Ginger ninja]

I thought he did well to make it competitive. The surface and conditions made it like playing indoor, and we all know how good fed is indoor. Murray was clearly running on empty after that huge service game at the beginning of the 4th set - you could see it in his eyes.

The good news is the surgery was minor, it's hardly career threatening. He'll get stronger and stronger this year and with a few decent masters and some clay points - i can see him getting to nr 2 by the end of the season and winning wimbledon again.

 

[Tenez101]

Djokovic will be back to trouble Nadal again, don't worry.

 

[abmk]

He's a SHELL of what he was in 2012 and some of last year. Hes like Pre-Lendl Murray again, just a mess

He should have held off on Surgery

lol, wut ? pre-lendl murray would've easily lost in 3 yesterday. He fought and took it to 4.

much tougher than the mental midgets that sampras had to face - the chief of which was ivanisevic .. :twisted:

 

[abmk]

Federer has had back issues but he has never undergone surgery. That is the big difference. Because he is older, he cannot always deal with it as effectively as he used to. In last year's semi, Federer was playing well and still showing something of his great 2012 form. In fact it proved to be the last good match he was to play all season. Murray, today, was clearly not the player who faced him exactly 12 months ago and we all know why.

I have never ignored a player's obvious loss of form in a match-up, whoever they may be. When Federer is off form, for whatever reason, he turns into Fed-Error and makes heaps of UEs. Tonight he was obviously in great shape and form although not quite at the level of his 2012 or last year's semi although he was obviously closer to it than Murray was.

federer was way too passive in the last year semi - partly as a result of the draining QF before.

He was wayyyyyyyyyy better this year's QF. You are delusional thinking that federer was not upto the level he was in the previous year's semi. It makes as much sense as saying murray was better in this year's QF than he was in the last year's semi

 

[*Sparkle*]

No, Murray was underdone, he was less fit and moving worse now after the surgery. His average groundies were 10k/hr slower than last years AO match vs Fed and he couldn't arch his back on serve and power his serve as well after a set or 2.

Stop spoiling the discussion with facts!

IMO, Murray has shown some flashes of what could become brilliant form over the coming months, but in yesterday's match, he was definitely suffering from
the kind of fatigue you would expect from someone who has had surgery, was required to stop all exercise for a period, and was lacking match practice.

Federer was also playing very well, so his fans should rightly be very pleased with his form. Just don't kid yourself that Murray was playing his best ever tennis.