Murray the master once again

Murray defeated Federer in straight sets 7-5, 7-5. Despite numerous rain delays, the Brit was able to stay on his game to win his first title this year.

"I just felt -- I felt pretty good this week, and I prepared well for the tournament, and I said in here yesterday that definitely helps," said Murray. "If you have the right preparation, you remove some doubts from your mind, and, you know, I just wanted to go for my shots more this week, you know, play the way that I felt like playing and definitely -- it definitely worked.

The returning champ was strong from the minute he stepped on the court. He jumped off to a quick start by breaking Federer's first serve of the match. He played with great angles and his serve never let him down.

Federer looked shaky from the start, allowing Murray to break his serve, ultimately causing him to lose the first set. The Swiss star finally started to find his groove as the second set began. Unfortunately for the No. 3 seed, on-and-off rain threw him off his game. When the match finally played out without delay, Murray once again proved to be dominant by taking the second set to win the match.

Coming into today's match, Murray led Federer 6-5 in head-to-head match-ups. All eleven matches the two have played were on a hard surface, much like Centre Court at Rexall Centre. Federer is the man responsible for preventing the Brit from winning a Grand Slam tournament. The Swiss star who celebrated his 29th birthday last week had won one tournament so far this year; the Australian Open where he defeated Murray in the final. As well, two years ago in the final at the US Open, Federer also defeated Murray in three sets. However, there was a period between 2008 and 2009 when Murray defeated Federer four matches in a row.

"To me, he doesn't need to prove his point anymore," said Federer. "He's beaten me six, seven times now. He's beaten Rafa in the past on hardcourts. It was just another great showing from him on a big stage."

Murray's road to the title was smoother than most other players in this tournament. He controlled all of his matches leading up to the final, with the exception of losing a set to David Nalbandian in the quarter-final. He proved his dominance today by defeating a man who many have called the greatest tennis player in the world. Murray's win confirms that a new era in tennis has begun, and it is bound to get interesting from here on.
 

Source: rogerscup.com