Murray's Shanghai win over Federer shows he's still got it
Andy Murray took the Shanghai Express to the sixth ATP Masters Series 1000 title of his career, beating Roger Federer, 6-3, 6-2, in just one hour, 25 minutes with a performance that posed as many questions as it answered.
For a solid top-four player, Murray has had a year of unusual peaks and troughs — a barren patch between reaching the Australian Open final in January and the Wimbledon semifinal in July, the high of beating Rafael Nadal and Federer back to back to win the Masters Series in Toronto in August. There was the virtual physical collapse against Stan Wawrinka at the U.S. Open, another listless shocker against Ivan Ljubicic in Beijing only 10 days ago and now this — a display of all-around brilliance that raises the old question: Just when is he going to win a Grand Slam?
“I need to play like I did this week for a whole tournament in the Slams,” said Murray who lost to Federer in the 2008 U.S. Open final. “I don’t think my game needs to improve so much. It’s just a question of confidence which you get from beating guys like Roger and Rafael Nadal in these tournaments.”
Murray’s inability to kick on from the form he displayed in Melbourne did seem to be tied in with the psychological blow of not taking the few chances he had of beating Federer in the Australian Open final. The realistic Scot, who has never played up nor played down his own capabilities, really thought he was primed for a Slam title against a man he has always felt comfortable playing. But the task proved one step too far for him and he was crushed, crying on the court and muttering the revealing statement: “I’ve proved I can cry like Roger; I just wish I could play like him.”
What he really meant to say was he wished he could play like Federer in Grand Slams. As he demonstrated in Toronto and now again in Shanghai, the Swiss holds no terrors for him on the ATP tour, as an 8-5 career advantage in head-to-head meetings proves. “I love the challenge of playing him,” he said. “It’s not easy at all, but today I played a lot more aggressive and didn’t give him many chances to dictate the points, especially on my serve, which is what I have to do against him and Nadal.” But, as he pointed out, the Slams are a step up. Surely now, Murray is ready to seize what his talent deserves.
The only logical explanation for his more recent slump in form in New York and Beijing must have to do with his health. He was completely mystified by the sudden fatigue that hit him during the Wawrinka match, and, soon after, he started getting headaches and a bad throat. If it was some kind of virus, it was still with him up until last week. But, once free of it, Andy was able to hit his stride again and, given a relatively easy path to the final, no one could live with him as he won five matches without dropping a set before totally outplaying Federer.
The severity of Federer’s defeat came as a surprise because the winner of 16 Grand Slam titles had been in imperious form himself, scoring a decisive straight-set victory over the in-form Novak Djokovic in the semifinal. But against Murray, who was serving big and moving at his best once again, it was a different story. The Scot’s ability to hit winners on the run from deep in the court and race onto any short balls heaps pressure on any opponent, and Federer is no exception.
Whenever Federer did return well enough to reach break point — and he did so six times — Murray usually came up with unreturnable serves, although, on one occasion, Federer only had himself to blame by fluffing a forehand.
So with one Masters 1000 Series to go before the eight-man ATP World Finals at London’s 02 Arena at the end of November, the apparent lock Nadal and Djokovic had on the tour after the U.S. Open has been broken. Nadal, beaten by the vastly improved Austrian left-hander Jurgen Melzer in Shanghai, seems to be tiring after his amazing exploits during a long summer season, and Djokovic, too, looked tired following his title-winning performance in Beijing. As a result of beating the Serb, Federer regained the No. 2 spot on the ATP ranking, and now Murray, who like the Swiss did not play Shanghai last year, will have gained points on Djokovic.
So there will be everything to play for as the tour reaches its climax and, apart from a marker laid down by Murray, Federer, too, has let it be known that those who wish to start writing him off, are way too eager. The world has four great players at the moment, and they will all go on beating each other for a while yet.
