ANDY Murray insisted last night that he can still mix it with the greatest players in the history of the sport after being served up a masterclass from Roger Federer in yesterday's Wimbledon semi-final.
An imperious performance from the Swiss World No 2 was sufficient to see him book a place in his 10th Wimbledon final with a 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 victory but the Scot was disinclined to beat himself up about the part he played in the match.
"I don't feel like I played that badly," said the 28-year-old. "There's a few things maybe at the end of the sets that I could have done a bit better. But some of those games at the end of the second set, like the game at 4 All or 5 4, I think both of us played some unbelievable points. It felt like every point was getting finished with a winner.
"I don't know if he is close to his peak," Murray added about his opponent. "But that's definitely the best he has served against me. I don't know how many times in the match he missed two first serves in a row, but it wasn't very often. It did feel like he served extremely close to the lines today."
The evergreen Federer now takes on World No 1 Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final, a re-run of last year's final and an occasion which will see him become the oldest SW19 finalist since the 39-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1974. The Serb was a straight sets winner against Richard Gasquet of France, but required on-court treatment on his shoulder.
"Obviously [Andre] Agassi played some great tennis into his 30s," said Murray. "Jimmy Connors is another one who played well late. But I don't know if anyone's played as well as Roger maybe at that age. I do enjoy competing against him. I still have a few years left. I do genuinely feel like I'm improving my game, as well. This year so far has been my most consistent year by far. In comparison to last year, it's night and day. But it's still an extremely tough time to win these major events because the guys that are around are phenomenal tennis players."
The Scot downplayed a furore over his decision to elect to receive when winning the toss, even though it meant he was always playing catch-up on the scoreboard. In his defence, his only break point in the entire match arrived in the very first game. "I mean, the guy served unbelievably well," said Murray. "That was the difference, not the fact he served first."
While the World No 3's defeat ends the Murray brothers' hopes of being the first set of British siblings to win both the singles and doubles in the same year since Laurie and Reggie Doherty back in 1905, Andy said he would be guided by Jamie when it comes to whether he would watch his older sibling's men's doubles final. "I'll maybe go out and watch the last game or two," he said. "But I find it very, very difficult watching. I get extremely nervous. I'll maybe ask Jamie if he would like me to come, if he feels like he would rather I wasn't there or I was there."
Federer admitted he had been on inspired form. "It was definitely one of the best matches I have played in my career," said Federer. "I'm just happy personally to be back in a final. Whoever it is against it is always a big occasion, that that is Novak, the world No 1, obviously adds something extra. I need to keep it up for one more match to make it the perfect couple of weeks."
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