Roger Federer Andy Murray dispute US Open Trophy

Posted by doms | Monday, September 08, 2008 | , | 0 comments »

Roger Federer and Andy Murray defeated separate foes to advance in the US Open final, the final grandslam of the year.

Sorry, no Federer-Nadal final in this year's US Open. Andy Murray saw to that.

Roger Federer, seeking a fifth US Open trophy, is on his way to the finals after defeating Novak Djokovic in four sets. This will be his third straight grand slam final and the last chance to defend one of the three he won last year.

Andy Murray is on his first ever final and on the verge of becoming the first British winner after a long, long while after upsetting and outplaying World No. 1 and top seed Rafael Nadal, also in four sets.

Federer won over, last year's finalist,Novak Djokovic in four sets and exact revenged to the man who defeated him in the semifinals in the Australian Open.

When I tuned in to the match, Federer had just won the first set, 6 - 3. Djokovic took back the second set when Federer failed to capitalize on many points to break Djokovic. It was 4 - 4 in the third set when I changed channels. I was feeling uneasy and thought that I maybe jinxing Federer. When I returned, Roger took the third set and was serving for the match un the fourt set.

When he let out a shout of triumph, I was beginning to pray for a Federer-Nadal III. But Andy Murray did something about that.

Andy Murray who is having a career year and a career run at this year's open outplayed Nadal in a magnificent upset to earn the right to meet Federer in the final.

Murray broke Nadal right in the first game of the first set and won the second set in a tie-break. The match was postponed due to rain. When play resumed the next day, Nadal expectedly came out, breaking Murray in the first game and eventually took the third set. In the fourth set, Murray showed great nerves to halt Nadal's streak in winning major tournaments this year that included the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic Gold.

While I am a bit disappointed of not getting my dream final, I am not totally comfortable of Federer's foe in the final. Murray will be in the first final of a grandslam in his career which will mean less pressure for him. Add to that the fact that he has a winning record over Federer. I think he will come out with more confidence and a nothing-to-lose game face.

As for Federer, the fifth straight US Open trophy, seems a little easier to achieve now that Nadal wont be on his way. And a great deal of criticism will be put to silence after he hoist that trophy. A loss meanwhile can only make this "performance dip talks" more louder than ever.

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