Murray V Federer

[bibblebub]

oo er

[bibblebub]

Federer is showing few signs of cracking

[kayakamina]

Federer serving for the match

[bibblebub]

is Murray's back playing up or not?

[bibblebub]

And that's that.

[jim360]

Well, never mind. In a way it's nice to see Federer back to almost his old best. Here's hoping he can sustain it into the semi-finals and beyond.

[Ken4155]

Outright betting;

Nadal 10/11, Federer 2/1, Wawrinka 5/1, Berdych 9/1

[Prudie]

I know I'm not a Murray fan but even if I were it is nice to see a great champion like Federer still able to win the big matches, I hate to see them slowly fizzle out.

[seekeerz]

Watching the first three sets of this match, I thought Andy might have had some back pain

[jim360]

Yes, indeed. 2013 looked like it might be the year that saw Federer slip out of the "Big Four" -- if he can keep this level up then evidently not!

Murray is certain to slip to 6th in the rankings after this tournament, as at least one of Berdych and Wawrinka will overtake him, and he was defending too many points to stay ahead of Ferrer and Del Potro too. Indeed if Federer can beat Nadal then Murray will go to 7th!

[Prudie]

Hmm Jim, I don't like Federer that much! Vamos!

[jim360]

Same reasoning holds, I think. I like the fact that we have an era with four top players competing at the same time. 2012 saw them pick up one Grand Slam title each, with Murray winning at the Olympics and Djokovic at the Tour finals, so a very even contest between the four. 2013 saw Nadal dominate and Federer seeming to fade out of the picture. So that he is back in it, and still competing (albeit so far only against Murray) suggests that the era of the Big Four (rather than just a big three) might have another year in it yet!

[bibblebub]

on that performance, Federer will again be competitive at the top level this year

[Prudie]

Let's hope so, from a spectator perspective it makes for great viewing, usually the semi-finals - (and a lot more interesting than the days of perpetual winners like Lendl, Sampras and Federer even)

[mushroom25]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/25805085

he's a scot rather than a brit - it says so in the report.....

[jim360]

Sigh... I do wish reporters would stop alternating in a way that suggests "British when he wins, Scottish when he loses".

[Butterbun]

Andy Murray will bounce back. It is still early days after his back surgery to be fully match fit as he didn't play much before this tournament started. I think he did well to reach the quarters but he will lose a lot of ranking points.