Dubai 2012 - Final : Federer v Murray

Under Jahu's orders here is the thread.

Much to discuss still on the semis's other thread but when we are ready to move...It will happen here.

Federer might be tired from that semi but if he can play like today.....he has a good chance.

I hope I can watch this one. I like Murray but I like Fed more.

dubai is federer's 2nd home...he won't let Murray see a tiebreak!

I am anticipating a good final with these two. Haven't seen them square up to each other since latter part of 2010

Much obliged Tenez

Hope it goes to 3 sets. I'm 51% for Fed, 49% for Andy.

Lets just hope these two give us our first good match of a rather dull tournament.

Whatever happens those 2 will get marginally closer to the top 2!....ranking wise.

time please wrote:I am anticipating a good final with these two. Haven't seen them square up to each other since latter part of 2010

That's because they've been on opposite sides of most draws since then.

socal1976 wrote:Lets just hope these two give us our first good match of a rather dull tournament.

I think everyone's got the point - you don't have to watch given that this is the only tournament of this sort all year.

Not really barry, cincy is very quick that is usually a dull one as well. So is Paris so there are fast court tourneys on tour. Like I said if this is the level of competition that we get from fast surfaces I say slow the whole lot of them down, dump more sand in the mix boys. This tournament has been hardly watchable.

socal1976 wrote:Not really barry, cincy is very quick that is usually a dull one as well. So is Paris so there are fast court tourneys on tour. Like I said if this is the level of competition that we get from fast surfaces I say slow the whole lot of them down, dump more sand in the mix boys. This tournament has been hardly watchable.

Perhaps they should have tournaments to cater for all tastes, not just yours?

If they both play like they did today, Murray wins. If Federer plays to his absolute best, Federer wins.

I think a lot depends on Murray's serve. If he serves like he did today I think he beats anyone.

I'd favour Murray by a fraction, but good to see both in such good form and I'm just hoping for a good match.

3 fast tournaments then?

On a separate note, I loved watching the old geezers - McEnroe, Leconte, Henman et al at the Albert Hall in December. Mac still a magician, and the fast indoor court show cased their talents wonderfully.

It is great to have a mix - slow courts and fast courts and to keep the variety in the game imho!

Murray is the slight favourite I'd say. He's had longer to rest, he's clearly on an up and serving well, and he has always had a good H2H vs. Federer in best-of-three matches.

I like the bigger server on the fast conditions. Go with Fed, the lightening quick conditions favors the bigger server. Not much mystery in this style of tennis.

socal1976 wrote:I like the bigger server on the fast conditions. Go with Fed, the lightening quick conditions favors the bigger server. Not much mystery in this style of tennis.

Perhaps we should ban overarm serves to make tennis more interesting for you?

No, just let Djoko win everything and Social will never complain.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

socal1976 wrote:I like the bigger server on the fast conditions. Go with Fed, the lightening quick conditions favors the bigger server. Not much mystery in this style of tennis.

Perhaps we should ban overarm serves to make tennis more interesting for you?

I just hope its not a snoozer like the rest of this god awful tournament has been. By the way I am not the one who gets on these sites and talks about tinkering with the courts and banning new equipment, you must have me confused with another group of posters.

I expect a good match tomorrow. The more desperate guy will win

noleisthebest wrote:I expect a good match tomorrow. The more desperate guy will win

Well that would be Murray then Nitb, I think Murray will do anything to save Judy from getting defiled by Legendkillar, talk about desperation.

socal1976 wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:I expect a good match tomorrow. The more desperate guy will win

Well that would be Murray then Nitb, I think Murray will do anything to save Judy from getting defiled by Legendkillar, talk about desperation.

Hahaha, Social can joke? Nice one.

Agree, I would eat the net and the cord just to win and stay away from Judy.

I reckon there's little doubt that the tournament organisers will be more than happy with this match-up for their Final tomorrow, and the large contingent of British expats residing in Dubai will have the chance to see Andy give himself a shot at adding to his trophy collection after downing IronMan Novak in impressive style.

So then, pensioner Federer - the guy who's seen & done it all, but whose Slam-winning days are possibly behind him - squares off against Andy, whose Slam-winning days are (hopefully !) still ahead of him. An intriguing match given the fine form they both bring to the court, and their first meeting since way back at the WTF 2010. So far in 2012 they've only suffered one defeat each on the tour, and then only at the hands of the number one and two.

I must say Federer has surprised me not just by how well he has been playing in individual matches over recent months, but also at the level of consistency he seems able to maintain well into his thirtieth year, not least against players with far fewer miles on the clock (but then I suppose the vast majority of guys on tour these days are younger than him .... some considerably so....)

Since beginning his USO campaign last year I calculate that Fed has played 36 tour matches in all, losing just two of them ; losses inflicted by the only guys ranked above him, and adding four titles to his count in the process. Impressive stuff, Roger

All that said, I'm going with Andy tomorrow. Despite his lack of success vs Fed at Slams, he remains one of only two players, I think, to have a (meaningful) H2H advantage with the maestro and he must surely be as confident as he has ever been after his tussle with Novak at the AO, and then taking him out so comfortably today.

Wellcome back lags!

SO it took a win of Murray over Djoko to see you back?

I want RF to win tomorrow. If he serves well, Andy won't be able to stop him. I think Novak was perhaps not completely committed and possibly wanted to avoid TMF. This doesn't take the credit away from Andy. I did not get to watch, so am being an arm chair pundit here.

I'll go with Roger. I'm sure Murray will be targeting Roger's backhand as much as possible & aiming to construct points around cross-court backhand exchanges. But Del Potro has just given Roger the best possible practise-session in that scenario.

Thanks for the welcome Tenez.

It was indeed a fine win by Murray but that's not really what brought me back.

I was encouraged more by the gradual improvement in maturity and quality on the board during the last couple of weeks or so, resulting in part IMO from the departure of one or two of the childish and irrational WUMs, playing the same broken record which had characterised the closing months of the original 606

I'm all for robustly-expressed and diverse views, but if the tedious vitriol starts again I'll soon be off

lags72 wrote:I was encouraged more by the gradual improvement in maturity and quality on the board during the last couple of weeks or so

Actually, I think you'll find that's down to the wonderful new moderator.

That could well be the case !
(and I'm sure your comment is made as a wholly independent observer )

Good points by lags, Fed definetly has played well from the US open loss, 36-2 is impressive. Its a pick em at this point. I give a slight edge to Murray in terms of hunger and the conditions favor Fed. I think Murray's return game matches up well but Fed has been so strong on serve this tournament. Lets hope that Murray and Fed turn this snoozer around, frankly if this is what the fast court afficianados want to bring us in their nirvana of fast courts and small balls then wake me up when its finished.

Federer's defence today was brilliant. Be an interesting match should Murray attack. I think Federer will down him in 3.

Roger Federer will go into the match as favourite whilst Murray will be full of confidence. It should be a cracker and will be interesting to see how it pans out.

Fed in 2 close sets. But wouldn't be stunned if murray won he is the hungrier player and looks to be improving.

People say Federer hasn't been troubled on serve so far, and that's true of course, but it's also true he hasn't faced anyone whose level of returning is even close to Murray's. Lest we forget, Djokovic hadn't been broken before today's semi, where he was broken four times (out of ten service games).

I'm not entirely sure the conditions favour Federer all that much, I've always felt Federer was actually at his best on slow-ish indoor courts, where the bounce is low and predictable and he has time to run around his backhand. Sure, the conds will favour his serve, but by the same token they'll favour Murray's serve too. The key could well be Murray's first serve percentage again. If he serves as well as he did today, Federer will struggle to break him down. However, if his first serve percentage is below 60% Federer will get his chances.

Should be an interesting final, it's been too long since we last had a match between these two.

Great final!
Djokovic was poor, del pot was in a great position to take it to a decider, but both Murray and fed played brilliantly!

Who should I support in the final? As a nadal fan I'm not sure.

The title would mean a lot more to Andy.

"I've had a lot of tough losses in my career," said Murray. "To come back from them hasn't always been that easy. I think it's big for me that after Australia this year I've come back and had a win like tonight.

"Hopefully that will set me up well for the year. Confidence in tennis and almost any individual sport is so important. A win like tonight will do that no harm; therefore, mentally I'm sure I'll be stronger."

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/02/9/Dubai-Friday-Murray-Beats-Djokovic.aspx

Federer has won this four times.

"It would be wonderful to win five [titles]," said Federer. "It's only happened at a handful of tournaments maybe in my career. It's nice to be back in another final. That's what I kind of play for, to be there and get a chance to win a tournament. I've played really well the last few months. I've hardly lost. It's great that momentum is on my side. I'm really match tough right now, and I hope I can take it one step further tomorrow. We'll see how it goes."

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/02/9/Dubai-Friday-Federer-Holds-Off-del-Potro.aspx

Mad for Chelsea wrote:People say Federer hasn't been troubled on serve so far, and that's true of course, but it's also true he hasn't faced anyone whose level of returning is even close to Murray's. Lest we forget, Djokovic hadn't been broken before today's semi, where he was broken four times (out of ten service games).

I'm not entirely sure the conditions favour Federer all that much, I've always felt Federer was actually at his best on slow-ish indoor courts, where the bounce is low and predictable and he has time to run around his backhand. Sure, the conds will favour his serve, but by the same token they'll favour Murray's serve too. The key could well be Murray's first serve percentage again. If he serves as well as he did today, Federer will struggle to break him down. However, if his first serve percentage is below 60% Federer will get his chances.

Should be an interesting final, it's been too long since we last had a match between these two.

Djokovic was broken before the semi btw.

LuvSports! wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:People say Federer hasn't been troubled on serve so far, and that's true of course, but it's also true he hasn't faced anyone whose level of returning is even close to Murray's. Lest we forget, Djokovic hadn't been broken before today's semi, where he was broken four times (out of ten service games).

I'm not entirely sure the conditions favour Federer all that much, I've always felt Federer was actually at his best on slow-ish indoor courts, where the bounce is low and predictable and he has time to run around his backhand. Sure, the conds will favour his serve, but by the same token they'll favour Murray's serve too. The key could well be Murray's first serve percentage again. If he serves as well as he did today, Federer will struggle to break him down. However, if his first serve percentage is below 60% Federer will get his chances.

Should be an interesting final, it's been too long since we last had a match between these two.

Djokovic was broken before the semi btw.

Also, against Federer, Llodra (a S&V player) had 2 BPs on a fast court.

Djoko had a terrible first serve in that semi so it made Murray's task a bit easier.

Can Murray prevent Federer to pull his game? If he can he has a good chance....otherwise, one way traffic.

Watched the highlights last night. Was surprised how wayward Djokovic's BH was in the first. Murray to his credit took it Djokovic and looked comfortable flattening his BH early in rallies. In the 2nd again Murray was forcing the issue and Djokovic looked uncomfortable. I don't think Djokovic will be too disappointed by the defeat.

Federer at the net yesterday was clinical. I think Murray won't get many opportunity's through Federer not putting away volley's at the net. Del Potro will be bitterly disappointed losing that 2nd set TB. However he wasn't doing a lot in the TB to warrant such a lead. Federer dipped, but Delpo blinked and Federer was back in it.

For Murray to win he must not try to resort to passive junk. If Federer throws in some errors, he must attack and put some daylight between them. Otherwise Federer will win.

I think it's 50/50 and very much not just about Murray preventing Fed's flow. Murray is a bad match up for Fed, simply because he always (when playing decent) asks questions about Fed's serve - something that most be disconcerting when you normally win your serve with ease

However, if Andy leaves the ball short, then of course Roger will gobble him up

I actually think the court helps Andy as do all the fast hard courts, it makes his great retrieval game more significant

He also has the confidence, knowing that he beat Fed in their last two finals and they were fairly one-sided

However, I'm convinced that both are just happy to be in a final playing each other - so the result will not be that significant

LuvSports! wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:People say Federer hasn't been troubled on serve so far, and that's true of course, but it's also true he hasn't faced anyone whose level of returning is even close to Murray's. Lest we forget, Djokovic hadn't been broken before today's semi, where he was broken four times (out of ten service games).

I'm not entirely sure the conditions favour Federer all that much, I've always felt Federer was actually at his best on slow-ish indoor courts, where the bounce is low and predictable and he has time to run around his backhand. Sure, the conds will favour his serve, but by the same token they'll favour Murray's serve too. The key could well be Murray's first serve percentage again. If he serves as well as he did today, Federer will struggle to break him down. However, if his first serve percentage is below 60% Federer will get his chances.

Should be an interesting final, it's been too long since we last had a match between these two.

Djokovic was broken before the semi btw.

gah, I think it was in the BBC live text that he hadn't been, but of course, Stak broke him in set 2 of R1 didn't he? My point still holds that Murray will almost certainly get chances on the Fed serve.

frankly if this is what the fast court afficianados want to bring us in their nirvana of fast courts and small balls then wake me up when its finished.

you won't be watching the french open and half of the clay season then?

what time does the final start?

LuvSports! wrote:what time does the final start?

3PM UK time

cheers man come on feds!

Who should I support in the final? As a nadal fan I'm not sure.

well if Fed wins it's natural and expected. no dramas, if murray wins then the British press will make him favourite for Wimbledon, USO, AO, Olympics.

lags72 wrote:I reckon there's little doubt that the tournament organisers will be more than happy with this match-up for their Final tomorrow, and the large contingent of British expats residing in Dubai will have the chance to see Andy give himself a shot at adding to his trophy collection after downing IronMan Novak in impressive style.

So then, pensioner Federer - the guy who's seen & done it all, but whose Slam-winning days are possibly behind him - squares off against Andy, whose Slam-winning days are (hopefully !) still ahead of him. An intriguing match given the fine form they both bring to the court, and their first meeting since way back at the WTF 2010. So far in 2012 they've only suffered one defeat each on the tour, and then only at the hands of the number one and two.

I must say Federer has surprised me not just by how well he has been playing in individual matches over recent months, but also at the level of consistency he seems able to maintain well into his thirtieth year, not least against players with far fewer miles on the clock (but then I suppose the vast majority of guys on tour these days are younger than him .... some considerably so....)

Since beginning his USO campaign last year I calculate that Fed has played 36 tour matches in all, losing just two of them ; losses inflicted by the only guys ranked above him, and adding four titles to his count in the process. Impressive stuff, Roger

All that said, I'm going with Andy tomorrow. Despite his lack of success vs Fed at Slams, he remains one of only two players, I think, to have a (meaningful) H2H advantage with the maestro and he must surely be as confident as he has ever been after his tussle with Novak at the AO, and then taking him out so comfortably today.

Great post - and good to see you back lags

A more interesting question (maybe) is in terms of the remaining Grand Slams this year, which player would benefit most in winning this final?

a) Federer
b) Murray
c) Totally irrelevant to their chances of winning a slam this year.

c)

Largely irrelevant I think. Of course it would give Fed confidence to beat Murray who is one of the few players to consistently trouble him and has a positive h2h over him. It would similarly give Murray confidence to build on a good semi victory over Nole.

However, Murray has had the best of Fed over b03 several times before and this hasn't translated into a win at a slam, despite being heavily tipped on the two occasions they did square off. Of course that may well change this year.

In short - it would do both players good, but I am not sure I would talk up either of their chances at the next few slams on the basis of a win in Dubai.