Will Murray make Wimbledon history?

 

Roar Rookie

By jackderwin, 8 Jul 2012 jackderwin is a Roar Rookie

Tagged:

 Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Tennis, Wimbledon

5 Have your say

Email

Andy Murray has progressed to the 2012 Wimbledon final, after winning last night’s Wimbledon semi, defeating Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

The Scot’s victory makes him the first British player to progress to the Wimbledon final since 1937 and if successful tomorrow night, he will be the first to win it since Fred Perry did so in 1936.

But does Murray have what it takes to win Wimbledon?

The victory was the fourth consecutive Wimbledon semi-final contested by Murray, having suffered losses at the hands of Andy Roddick in 2009 and Rafael Nadal in 2010 and 2011.

Of these, the closest Murray has come to the final was during his 2009 loss to Roddick. Roddick was challenged in a tight contest, eventually winning 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.

His losses to Nadal in the 2010 and 2011 semi-finals were less encouraging. Murray was outclassed (4-6, 6-7, 4-6) and (7-5, 2-6, 2-6, 4-6) respectively by the dominant Spaniard.

Even less encouraging is the fact that of Murray’s three semi-final losses, only Nadal in 2010 would go on to win the final.

So what does this mean for Murray as he prepares to finally contest the Wimbledon championship, having finally broken his own personal Wimbledon drought as well as Britain’s?

Well, as Murray concedes, “It will be one of the biggest matches of my life”.

He will face a formidable Roger Federer who appeared to easily overcome number one seed Novak Djokvovic, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The former world number one has already won Wimbledon six times, last doing so in 2009 and his experience will be critical.

Tomorrow’s final will be Federer’s 24th grand slam finals appearance, having won sixteen of those. By comparison, it is Murray’s fourth appearance of which he has won none.

However, Murray is one of only two players who have a winning head to head record against Federer, having defeated the Swiss in eight of their fifteen meetings.

In their only two grand slam finals meetings at the 2008 US Open and 2010 Australian Open, Federer has proved victorious in both.

While this record may prove imposing, Murray showed yesterday that if any tennis player is up to the task of defying history, it is him.

Looking to join The Roar team? We're searching for an experienced Group Sales Manager to lead our team in Sydney. Yes, this does mean you get to work with the site all day long! If you're a digital media sales star, we want to hear from you. Apply now.