Since Roger Federer and Andy Murray made it through their respective semi's on Friday, much has been made of the pressure on both men to lift the treasure trophy this Sunday afternoon.
Federer at 30, and having not won a grand slam title in over 2 years, faces perhaps the toughest task of his career. On the line, a return to the number one ranking and a record advancing 17th grand slam prize pushing him towards Sampras' record of weeks atop the world rankings. A win for Roger also secures him the top section of the draw for the Olympic Games, his main priority for the 2012 season, importantly meaning to win that title he will feasibly only have to play ONE of Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal to win that gold medal.
Meanwhile, Murray carries British hopes on his shoulders. No stranger to grand slam finals, (he's contested another 3 thus far) Murray has yet to play a final in his home country on the famous Centre Court, carrying pressure like no other match in his career to date. The 25 year old Murray is seen by many as being long overdue a major prize, and the ageing Federer would seem to be his best chance to date, of reaching the pinnacle of the sport for the very first time. Murray's 8-7 record against the Swiss also bodes well for the Scot's chances in the match, as he knows that he can beat Federer if he plays to his best level.
The worry for Murray and his fans today is that he realises where he is, what he's doing, and the history he could make. After all, 2 of Murray's 3 previous major losses came against the mighty Federer, who importantly knows how to get it done in major finals on centre court, and against the player he faces today in Murray.
In terms of match up, as the head to head shows, the two are very evenly matched, with Federer's explosive attacking game often being negated by Murray's fierce counterpunching, whilst other times Murray is too defensive for the dynamic all court style of the former 6 time winner at SW19.
On grass, (a surface they've never met on before) both will look to vary their game mixing their strike backhands with a few deft slices, and both will look to play some of their points up at the net, especially Federer who will look to play first strike tennis and not enter into too many long rallies with the consistent Scot.
Whilst the grass is by no means as quick as it was back in the 90's, it still favours the more attacking style of Federer, and should he be able to execute by keeping his errors down, i get the feeling that Murray will have to step out of his comfort zone to deal with Roger's game today.
Finally, nerves must come into the equation of this match not just for Murray, but for Federer as well. The history on the line for both men means that it will be difficult for both men to play their best tennis, but i thought that before Fedal in 2008 and we got the best match of all time. Good luck to both men :)
Prediction Federer bts Murray- 6-3, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
DJT
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