TENNIS TUESDAY: Fed Wins 8th Basel, Woz Wins WTA YEC, Venus Wins 2017 $$ Race, Hingis Retires

WOZNIACKI DEFEATS VENUS TO WIN WTA TOUR YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIP
Caroline Wozniacki won her first WTA Tour Finals championship in surprisingly aggressive style, defeating Venus Williams for the first time (in 8 meetings) 6-4 6-4. The win means that Wozniacki will end the year at World #3 and Venus will be at World #5.

FEDERER BEATS DEL POTRO TO WIN 8TH BASEL TITLE, 7TH IN 2017, 95TH OVERALL
Roger Federer won his 8th Basel title (in 13 finals in his hometown) by defeating Juan Martin del Potro 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3. It was Federer's 7th title in 2017 and he is 49-4 for the year. Those 4 losses ave been to Evgeny Donskoy, Tommy Haas, del Potro  and Sascha Zverev (Cincinnati Masters final). With his win he moved to a clear second on the all-time titles won list with 95, one ahead of Ivan Lendl's 94 and behind Jimmy Connors' 109.

VENUS ENDS 2017 #1 IN PRIZE MONEY
Despite not winning any titles in 2017, Venus reached 2 major finals (Australian Open and Wimbledon) as well as the final match of the year-end championship. Because she was the most consistent at the biggest tournaments of the year, she earned $5,468,741 to end the  year on top of the prize money standings for 2017.

FEDERER CEDES YEAR-END #1 TO NADAL BY WITHDRAWING FROM PARIS MASTERS
Immediately after winning Basel, Federer withdrew from the Paris Masters, which means that Nadal just has to win one match there in order to cement his hold on the World #1 ranking through the end of the year, the fourth time he would have done so (2013, 2010, 2008). Federer has ended the year #1 five times (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009). In other ranking news, 20-year-old Sascha Zverev reached the World #4 ranking.

MARTINA HINGIS RETIRES (FOR THE 3RD TIME) FROM PROFESSIONAL TENNIS
Martina Hingis shocked the tennis world by revealing during the WTA Tour  year-end championships  in Singapore that she intended all year for 2017 to be her last year on the WTA Tour. Hingis retired at age 37 with 43 singles and 64 doubles titles and retired while holding the #1 doubles ranking. She had previously retired in 2003 and 2007. For the last few years she has clearly been the best doubles player in the world. She won 5 major singles titles and 13 major doubles title, including the 2017 US Open.

Federer-Nadal XXXVIII: Federer Beats Nadal In 4th Final In 2017 To Win Shanghai Masters

Roger Federer won his 94th career ATP tour title on Sunday when he defeated his arch-rival (and current World #1) Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-3 in 71 minutes to win the Shanghai Masters. Federer is now tied with Ivan Lendl for second place on the all-time list, behind Jimmy Connors 109 titles. It was the 4th time he had beaten Nadal in a final this year  (Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami Open and Shanghai Masters). He has now beaten him 5 times in a row and has not lost to Nadal since the 2014 Australian Open semifinal.

This match was the 38th meeting between the two rivals, which Nadal now leads 23-15. Even though the scoreline appears as if today's match was close, in reality Federer never faced a breakpoint, while he converted 3 of 7 breakpoints he earned against Nadal. He had 10 aces to Nadal's 4. Nadal was riding a 16 match win streak which included 3 titles (US Open, Beijing Open and China Open). He is the #1 ranked player in the world and is still 1950 points ahead of Federer, with only 3000 points at stake for the rest of the 2017 season. It is almost certain that Nadal will end the year at #1, for the first time since 2013. Nadal's year-to-date record is 61-10.

2016 ATP YEC Final: Djokovic-Murray XXXV To Decide Year-End #1 Ranking

The race for the year-end #1 comes down to a historic meeting between world #1 Andy Murray and World #2 Novak Djokovic in the very last  tour match of the year! After playing against each other in two major finals (2016 Australian Open and 2016 French Open) this year the two will play their 35 career ATP match in the final of the 2016 ATP year-end championship. Murray is playing in his very first ATP Tour Finals final while Djokovic is trying to win his 6th year-end championship and for the fifth consecutive year!

Murray has won his last 23 matches in a row, which has led him to a career-high #1 ranking but in the last six months where he has been ascendant (winning Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics singles gold medal and multiple Masters shields) he has not had to face any other members of the big Four (Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were injured and Djokovic was curiously  unproductive this fall). However, in his semifinal match, Murray played an intense 3-hour-38-minute match with Milos Raonic (who will end the year at World #3), saving 1 match point in the third-set tiebreaker and winning 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(9) in what some are calling one of the best matches of the year. (It was the longest match ever at the year-ending championship, a record that Murray had set just a round before when he won another epic match in 3-hours-21 minutes against Nishikori. In contrast, Djokovic dismantled World #5 Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-1 in just over 66 minutes to get the right to retake the World #1 ranking and end the year at the top for the third consecutive year.

I'm glad that this is a 3-set match. Despite the fact that Djokovic has a 24-10 head-to-head record and appears to be playing some of his best tennis right now I still think this is Murray's best chance to beat him in a long time. It should be noted that 2 of the 3 major finals Murray has one he did it over Djokovic. But it will not be easy. I think the more likely result is a straight sets win by Djokovic. If Murray wins the first set, then I think he has a slightly better than 50% chance to win the match. But Djokovic has beaten Murray in all 4 indoor hard court matches they have played and leads him 3-1 in the four finals they played so far this year.

MadProfessah's pick: Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic Will Soon Have The Highest Win-Loss Percentage Of All Time In Tennis

Novak Djokovic is poised to reach another milestone, just days after he notched his 700th ATP win. He is currently tied with Bjorn Borg with the highest win-loss percentage of all time (82.74%). Borg finished his career with 609 wins and 127 losses (due to retiring early) but Djokovic is currently at 700W-146L, his coach Boris Becker coyly pointed out on Instagram today. (Becker himself is #10 on the all0-time list with a 713W-127L record which is 76.91%).

Novak is currently tied with Borg in another important metric (11 career major titles won) but since the current World #1 is 12-0 for 2016 he is almost certainly going to exceed Borg in both win-loss percentage and total majors won very soon.

If Djokovic does make significant progress toward's Federer's total of 17 majors then the discussion of Greatest of al time will most definitely have to include the Serbian.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Djokovic Clinches Year End #1 For 4th Time

Novak Djokovic has clinched the World #1 ranking after winning his 3rd major title of the year on Sunday night. Djokovic previously had earned the year-end ranking in 2011, 2012 and 2014. He becomes the sixth man in history to have been able to be ranked #1 at the end of the year at least four times. The others are Ivan Lendl (4 times), John McEnroe (4 times), Roger Federer (5 times), Jimmy Connors (5 times) and Pete Sampras (6 times),

2015 WIMBLEDON: Djokovic Defeats Federer For 9th Major; 3rd Wimbledon

For the second year in a row, I incorrectly predicted the result of the Wimbledon men's final. Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 7-6(1) 6-7(10) 6-4 6-3 to win his 9th major title and 3rd Wimbledon title. He is now 9-8 in major finals and has pulled even 20-20 in his head-to-head with the Swiss Great by winning Federer-Djokovic XL. He now leads the greatest Grass court player of all time 2-1 on grass!

The match was a nailbiter with Federer playing slightly better in the first set but failing to hold on to na early break and Djokovic saving breakpoints with well-placed serves and then playing a near flawless first tiebreak to steal the first set. The second set was even better with excellent tennis from both players. Djokovic had an amazing seven set points (6 in the tiebreak) but Federer served and volleyed on important point (including his second set point) and grabbed the second. By this pointit was clear that Federer was not going to have an equally transcendent day on serve that he had had against Murray, especially when he got broken despite being up 40-15 in the third game of the third set. Djokovic had sniffs at a second break but was denied. Regardless, he was able to nurse his lead to a 6-4 win of the third set. In the fourth set Djokovic was again able to break early and consolidate the break before a rain delay. After the rain delay it was Djokovic, not Federer who seemed to be playing with more energy and the excitement of the match cooled substantially as the likelihood of a repeat of last year's dramatic run by Federer to force a 5th set seemed unlikely. Djokovic confirmed this by starting to return even better and forced breakpoints that were championship points, winning the second one.

Djokovic is now 8th on the all-time majors won list, pulling ahead of Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors (who have 8 each) but yet still behind greats like Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver (who have 11) and Rafael Nadal and Pete  Sampras (14 each), and of course Federer at 17.

2015 AUS OPEN: Djokovic Beats Murray For 8th Major; 5th In Melbourne

Somewhat surprisingly, Novak Djokovic demonstrated (again) his dominance over his friend and rival Andy Murray with a four-set 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 win in the men's final of the 2015 Australian Open. Djokovic, 27, has now won 8 majors, tying him with other all-time greats like Andre Agassi, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors and moving ahead of John McEnroe. Murray, also 27, has lost 4 finals in Melbourne and 3 overall to Djokovic. The Serbian becomes the first player n the modern era to win 5 Australian Open titles, although he is still one behind Roy Emerson's overall haul of 6.

The first two tiebreak sets took over two-and-a-half hours and featured extended rallies and brilliant shotmaking from both sides of the court. Djokovic struggled with a finger and ankle injury and when Murray went up 2-0 to begin the third set it looked like things might be going his way at last. But Djokovic found another gear and Murray unraveled, losing 12 of the next 13 games, including the last 9, to lose the 3rd and 4th sets 6-3 6-0.

The question for me now is where will both players go from here? Murray is now 2-6 in Major finals and Djokovic is 8-6. They are approximately the same age. Can Djokovic complete the career slam, can Murray win another? I believe the answer to both these questions is yes.

Federer Wins 1000th Career Match; Defeats Raonic for 83rd ATP Title in Brisbane

Roger Federer won his 1000th career match in Brisbane Australia, defeating Milos Raonic in a tight, seesaw final, claiming his 82nd 83rd career ATP title by the score 6-4 6-7(2) 6-4. The 17-time major champion is the 3rd person to reach the 4-digit win threshold, after Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071). 21 of those 1000 wins have been against Andy Roddick.

2014 CINCINNATI: Federer Defeats Ferrer To Win 80th ATP Title

Roger Federer won his 80th ATP career title by defeating David Ferrer 6-3 1-6 6-2 in the finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. This match was the first ATP Masters series final to feature two players above the age of 30. It was Federer's 22nd ATP Masters shield, placing him five behind Rafael Nadal's record total at 27 and 3 ahead of Novak Djokovic's 19. It was Federer's first win at this level since his 2012 win (in Cincinnati over Djokovic) and stopped a streak of four losses in a row in ATP masters series finals (l. Tsonga in Toronto 2014, l. Wawrinka in Monte Carlo 2014, l. Djokovic in Indian Wells 2014 and l. Nadal in Rome 2013).

Federer has now won in Cincinnati six times: 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2005. His career total of 80 is 3rd on the all-time list. Only Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (97) have won more. Federer is now 80-41 in career finals and 3-4 in finals this year. He has the most wins on tour of any active player: 49 and beat three top 10 players on his way to the title: Milos Raonic, David Ferrer and Andy Murray.

Andy Murray Names Amélie Mauresmo as His New Coach

Well this is a surprise! Defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has named former Wimbledon champion Amélie Mauresmo as his new coach, the first time in recent memory a top men's player is being coached by a former top women's player.

After spending his youth being coached by his mother, Andy Murray is turning to another woman to help him defend his Wimbledon title. 

Murray hired former top-ranked player Amelie Mauresmo as his coach on Sunday, saying the appointment is initially for the grass-court season. 

"I'm excited by the possibilities of the new partnership and Amelie is someone I have always looked up to and admired," Murray said in a statement. "She's faced adversity plenty of times in her career, but was an amazing player and won major titles, including Wimbledon."

Any excuse to see Mauresmo around major tournaments is a good one for me. I do think the practice of hiring former major champions on the men's tour (Boris Becker is coaching Novak Djokovic, Stefan Edberg is coaching Roger Federer, Michael Chang is coaching Kei Nishikori and Ivan Lendl was Murray's previous coach) is getting a bit silly and it is not clear what (if any) benefits it brings to the player.

Murray and Lendl End Coaching Relationship

It was announced today that Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl will no longer be working together as player and coach.

The statement on AndyMurray.com reads:

The partnership between Murray and Lendl brought an Olympic Gold Medal, US Open title and Wimbledon Championship.

“Working with Andy over the last two years has been a fantastic experience for me”, said Lendl. “He is a first class guy. Having helped him achieve his goal of winning major titles, I feel like it is time for me to concentrate on some of my own projects moving forward including playing more events around the world which I am really enjoying. I will always be in Andy’s corner and wish him nothing but great success as he too goes into a new phase of his career.”

Murray, who is returning from back surgery and preparing to defend his title in Miami, said “I’m eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work over the past two years, the most successful of my career so far. As a team, we’ve learned a lot and it will definitely be of benefit in the future. I’ll take some time with the team to consider the next steps and how we progress from here”.

Andy will lead Great Britain in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup next month against Italy.

It's a somewhat curious time for this coaching change and also seems unusual in that other players like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have started working with former tennis greats (Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, respectively) since the Murray-Lendl partnership started just over two years ago and brought Murray his two major wins (2013 Wimbledon and 2012 US Open).

2014 DUBAI: Federer Wins 78th Career ATP Title

As I predicted, Roger Federer won the 2014 Dubai title by defeating Tomas Berdych 3-6 6-4 6-3.
It was Federer's 78th ATP career title, placing him in sole possession of the 3rd all-time position, surpassing John McEnroe at 77 and behind Ivan Lendl at 94 and Jimmy Connors at 109. It was also Federer's first title since winning in Halle for the 6th time in June 2013, which was his only title last year. Dubai is good stomping grounds for Federer, he has now won the title there six times (2003-05, 2007, 2012, 2014); he spends a lot of his off-season there, since he owns a house in the emirate and trains in the extreme heat in order to be ready for any conditions. The only tournament he has won more times is Wimbledon, which he has won 7 times (2003-2007, 2009, 2012).

Federer was down a set and break (3-6, 2-3 when he was suddenly able to break back and hold his own serve to go up 4-3 in the second set. The tennis was of a high quality, with both players hitting winners from all over the court. Berdych served especially well, while Federer did not (his serving percentage did go up as the match went on though, which is the preferred direction!). Federer was able to win the second set by breaking Berdych during a streak of  9 consecutive points won and in the deciding set he was able to get the first break and although he faced break points himself, he was able to consolidate the break and serve out the title.

It's clear the 17-time major champion is playing much better than he did in 2013. Last year he lost in the semifinals to Berdych despite having 3 match points, today he beat Berdych (improving to 12-6 lifetime). With his win today, he has 4 top 10 wins (Murray, Tsonga, Djokovic and Berdych) which is the same number he managed all of last year (4-10 for 2013 compared to 4-1 for 2014). With Indian Wells and Key Biscayne coming up, things are looking up for Federer fans!

2013 WIMBLEDON: Andy Murray Wins!!

As I predicted, Andy Murray of Scotland won his 2nd major title at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships by defeating World #1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-4 7-5 6-4 in 3 hours and 9 minutes, becoming the first British man in 77 years to win his country's major tennis championship.

More later...

2013 WIMBLEDON: Men's Final Preview

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Andy Murray (GBR) [2]

The players are set for the 2013 men's final at the Wimbledon Championships. Last year I correctly predicted Serena Williams would defeat Agnieska Radwanska in the Women's Final and I also correctly predicted Roger Federer would defeat Andy Murray in the Men's Final. This year I correctly predicted 2 of 2 women's semifinals and 2 of 2 men's semifinals. 

However, this year I incorrectly predicted that Sabine Lisicki would defeat Marion Bartoli.  What follows is my analysis of this year's men's final between Novak Djokovic and Andy  Murray and a review of the recently completed Men's semifinals.

How They Got Here: Men's Semifinals Review
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] d. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) [8] 7-5 4-6 7-6(2) 6-7(6) 6-3.
Surprisingly, this was simply one of the all-time grass court matches, and almost certainly the best Wimbledon men's semifinal ever. It broke the record for the longest Wimbledon semifinal, lasting 4 hours 43 minutes. Only two other matches come to mind that obviously surpass it, namely the 2008 Wimbledon final between Federer and Nadal and the 2009 Wimbledon final between Federer and Andy Roddick. But those two are also some of the greatest matches of all-time. This result was a surprise, because 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro had never played his best tennis on grass before, even though he had given hints of the brilliance that could come in his straight-sets dismissal of David Ferrer in the quarterfinals. Both Djokovic and Del Potro had both not lost a setup to this point in the tournament. That quickly changed when Djokovic was able to sneak out the first set. But Del Potro came back and broke Djokovic and then easily held serve to take the second set. In the third set, the two held serve until the tiebreak (with Djokovic failing to convert multiple breakpoints) and then simply outplayed the Argentine to win the 3rd. Following a break relatively early in the fourth set the match seemed like it would be soon over. But Del Potro had other ideas and broke back. Even though he again fell behind in the tie-break, Djokovic was able to save two match points and then grab his first set point in the tiebreak to force a fifth set very close to the 4th hour of the match. However, Djokovic was able to eventually break serve and despite facing a breakpoint n the final game was able to serve it out to reach his 9th major final in the last 12 played.

Andy Murray (GBR) [2] d. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) [24] 6-7(2) 6-4 6-4 6-3. Murray continued the long tradition of torturing his countrymen by losing the first set in a tie-break again the young Pole, who became the first player to get this deep in only their fifth major tournament since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2008 Australian Open. Murray fought back to win the second set and then fell down to 1-4 in the third set before the crowd got involved and powered their countryman to five consecutive games to win the 3rd set. At this point the Club made the curious decision to close the roof, completely stopping Murray's momentum. But Murray's hard-eared experience at the top levels of profesional tennis help him to maintain his focus on holding his service games (even out-acing the 6-foot-8 Janowicz who hit serves as high as 140 mph) and eventually he broke Janowicz early. Murray constantly applied pressure which led to a reduction in Janowicz's  service percentage so that and then in the 8th game he faced a breakpoint that was a match point and served a puff second serve that was returned for a clear winner by Murray to end the match.

Who Will Win: Men's Final Preview

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs. Andy Murray (GBR) [2]. This is another major final (their fourth) played between these two men who were born a week apart in 1987 and are now the current World #1 and World #2. Head-to-head Djokovic still leads 11 to 7 including 2-1 in major finals but Murray leads 1-0 on grass, having beaten Djokovic in the semifinals of the London Olympics tennis tournament played last year at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club. Interestingly, the two are tied 4-all in tour finals and they each have won three tournaments this year. Djokovic beat Murray in this year's Australian Open final in four sets while Murray beat Djokovic at last year's US Open final in 5 sets.

Suffice it to say that there is not a lot of differences between these two players that will determine who will win the match. To get to this stage of the tournament Djokovic had had the tougher field, which included Tommy Haas, 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, and Del Potro, losing only 2 sets to the latter. Murray dropped 2 sets against an inspired Fernando Verdasco in the quarters and another one against Janowicz in the semis. Murray has hit 249 winners to 102 unforced errors in the first 6 rounds, an average of 25 more winners than errors, while Djokovic has hit 275 winners to 112 unforced errors, and average of 27 more winners than errors per match. Djokovic has hit 76 aces to 7 double faults, while Murray has hit 80 aces to 11 double faults. 

Djokovic has to be considered the more experienced player, having played in 10 major finals, with an impressive 6-4 record. Murray very famously lost his first 4 major finals, finally winning his 5th and then losing in the 6th, for an overall record of 1-5. But honestly, one needs to separate Murray into the pre-Lendl Murray (0-4) and the post-Lendl Murray. In that case, the post-Lendl Murray is 1-2 in major finals and has won the Gold Medal match over Roger Federer, on grass. 

The surface is another important aspect of the match. I think that Murray is a better grass court player than Djokovic, as evinced by his win over him in the one time they have played here (even though that was a 3-set match) and by Murray's quick success at an early age as opposed to Djokovic's.

However, mentally I have to give a slight edge to Djokovic because of his overall record in major finals and his head-to-head over Murray. And physically I have to give Djokovic another slight edge as well, as evinced by his 6-hour marathon win over Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open final and his outlasting of Murray this January in Melbourne. 

But I believe the intangibles will determine who wins this match. Playing the Wimbledon final in front of an almost completely partisan crowd will be an extremely important factor that Murray has already demonstrated that he knows how to use to his advantage. The crowd could become a motivating factor for Djokovic as well; he as used hostile crowd in New York to his advantage when playing Roger Federer in the US Open semifinals to come back from match point down to win the match on two occasions. So, the crowd support could be a double edged sword for Murray in the end. But I suspect he will use it to give him the extra edge he needs to finally get over the finish line at his country's major tournament, which just happens to be the most prestigious title in tennis. 

PREDICTION: Murray.

Federer Beats Youzhny for 6th HalleTitle

Roger Federer won his 6th title in Halle, Germany by defeating Mikhail Youzhny for the 15th time 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4. It was Federer's first title of 2013, his first since winning the 2012 Cincinnati Masters over Novak Djokovic last August. It was the Swiss great's 77th ATP tour title and 904th career win. He lost his only other 2013 final appearance at the Rome Masters to Rafael Nadal in May. His career finals record is now 77-35.

It was Federer's first win in Halle since 2008, having lost in the final last year to Tommy Haas (who he beat this year in the semifinals) and to Lleyton Hewitt in 2010. He did not play in 2009 and 2011, despite having a lifetime contract to appear at the "German Wimbledon."

Federer is aiming for his 8th Wimbledon title (and is the 2012 defending champion), just one month after Nadal won his record 8th Roland Garros title.

Federer Reaches 300 Weeks At #1

Roger Federer made history (again!) this week by logging his 300th week at the top of the ATP rankings. Pete Sampras previously held the record of 286 weeks at #1 which was broken by Federer this summer when he won his record 17th major singles title at Wimbledon. Andy Muray's coach Ivan Lendl is third on the all-time list with 270 weeks at #1.

The ATP analyzed the statistics and showed that Federer actually plays better tennis when he is ranked #1 than when he is not:

In his tenure, which first began on 2 February 2004, Federer has won 417 of his 469 matches (.889) and lifted 46 of his 76 career titles (.605). Without the World No. 1 ranking, Federer has gone 454-143 (.760) and captured 30 trophies.

Incredibly, he has lost no more than 10 matches as World No. 1 in any single season except 2008, when his record streak of 237 consecutive weeks at World No. 1 came to an end on 18 August, at the hands of his great rival Rafael Nadal.

Since February 2004, only two players have been able to wrestle the World No. 1 ranking away from Federer. By comparison, Nadal compiled a 140-22 mark (.864) and won 11 titles in his 102-week total stint at World No. 1, while Djokovic lifted four trophies and went 63-13 (.829) in his 53 weeks, which started on 4 July 2011.

That being said, with Novak Djokovic's epic comeback win at the Shanghai Masters over Murray he know is well over 2,000 points ahead of Federer for the calendar year and since there only 3 more weeks of competition remaining in the year, Federer will have to repeat his amazing 17-0 end to 2011 when he swept the Swiss Indoors, the Paris Masters and ATP World Tour Finals in order to have a chance of ending the year at #1.

Regardless, 300 weeks at #1 is an astonishing achievement. Congratulations!

2012 US OPEN: Andy Murray Wins 1st Major Title

Reuters

As I predicted, Andy Murray won his first grand slam title at the US Open on Monday night by defeating defending champion Novak Djokovic in a brilliant slugfest which lasted nearly 5 hours 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2. By winning his first major final in 5 attempts, the British player became the first person from his country to win a major title since Fred Perry did it in 1936. Murray is the second man after Juan Martin del Potro did it at the 2009 US Open to win a major singles tennis title other than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic since the 2005 Australian Open.

Many tennis watchers thought that Murray would never win a major but I was not among them. Murray was simply too good. He has a decent head-to-head record against both Federer (9 wins 8 losses) and Djokovic (7 wins 8 losses) but not Nadal (5 wins 13 losses). Murray and his new coach Ivan Lendl both famously lost the first 4 major finals they played but Djokovic has also lost 4 finals, including 3 in New York (2007 US Open to Federer, 2010 US Open to Nadal and now 2012 US Open to Murray) and 1 in Paris (2012 Roland Garros to Nadal). However, Djokovic has now won 5 major titles, which is 4 more than his rival who is only one week older. Lendl went on to win 8 major titles, and eventually appeared in 8 consecutive US Open finals (1982-1989).

The match ended up being even more dramatic than we expected, better than the instant classic they played in the 2012 Australian Open semifinal, but still eclipsed by the nearly 6 hour final won by Djokovic over Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open final for best match of the year. Like that match, there were more errors than winners hit by both players, but the winner-error differential does not tell the entire story. First you have to start with the first set which was 87 minutes long (about how much time it has taken Roger Federer to win some of his 17 major finals), finally won by Murray in an astonishing 22-point tiebreak after the Brit led by a break for most of the set. Secondly you have to consider the insanely long rallies one of which went to 54 strokes in the first set. Thirdly, you have to acknowledge the inherent drama and suspense of the match. After Murray was able to pull out the second set despite blowing a 2-break 4-0 leave in that set, everyone expected the match to be over soon. But somehow, magically, the defending champion was able to raise his level of play in the next two sets and win them relatively easily 6-2 and 6-3, seemingly breaking Murray at will. So, now they would play for  a 5th set for all the marbles and then there was another twist: the indefatigable Serb's body started to fail him and he started cramping. Murray was able to break Djokovic early in the set, consolidate the break, nurse it and then finally earn and insurance break and then serve out the match for his very first title.

2012 Wimbledon: Federer Wins 17th Major; 7th Wimbledon

As I predicted yesterday, Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 to win his 17th major title and tie Pete Sampras record of 7 men's singles titles at Wimbledon. The 30-year-old Swiss great has now won titles at Wimbledon in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012. With his win today, Federer moves three singles titles ahead of Sampras' 14 on the list of most Grand Slams. His previous Grand Slam win came at the 2010 Australian Open (over Murray), more than 29 months ago. Additionally, he will be ranked World #1 on the ATP Tour again on Monday, for the 286th week, becoming tied with Sampras for the most weeks at #1. That record will almost certainly be broken the following week. At 30 years, 335 days Federer will be the second oldest player to be ranked #1 after Andre Agassi did it when he was 33 years, 131 days old. Federer was last ranked number 1 in June 2010, losing the ranking to his nemesis Rafael Nadal on June 7, 2010 following his quarterfinal loss to Robin Soderling at the 2010 Roland Garros tournament.

Federer's win should end the conversation once and for all who is the greatest men's singles player of all time, despite his 10-18 losing career record against Nadal. Nadal has won 7 titles on his best surface, and reached 5 Wimbledon finals, where he defeated Federer in one. Federer has won 7 titles (in 8 finals) on his best surface, and faced Nadal in 4 finals and 1 semifinal in the major on his worst surface and lost all 5 matches. But on hard courts Federer has won 5 major titles (in 6 finals) while Nadal has reached 2 hard court finals and won one (not against Federer). Federer has now won 75 ATP tour singles titles, extended his head-to-head lead over Novak Djokovic to 15-12 and he has evened his career head-to-head score with Murray at 8-all. Speaking of Murray, the first British Wimbledon finalist in 74 years made many more fans worldwide with his post-match speech where, despite unsuccessfully fighting back tears, he praised his opponents play and said "I'm getting closer, aren't I?" Hopefully his coach Ivan Lendl, who also famously lost his first 4 major finals but went on to win 8 major titles, will be able to help his charge recover from today's loss.

Interestingly, both the mens and women's singles title winners this year, Roger Federer and Serena Williams, are both over age 30, the 6th time the two have won majors at the same tournament in their illustrious career. The 5-time Wimbledon ladies singles champion also won the Wimbledon doubles title with her sister, 5-time Wimbledon ladies singles champion Venus Williams, for the 5th time.

It was a great tournament for me, as I correctly predicted 7 of the 7 last matches in the men's draw (quarterfinals on) as well as 7 of the 7 last matches on the women's side. A 100% accuracy rate!

Men's Final Review
Murray started the match much more strongly than Federer, who was clearly uncharacteristically nervous in the very first service game of the match, making two errors on very easy shots to lose his serve. Murray was played aggressively at the start, hitting his forehand and backhand with much power and authority than he is known for. Eventually, Federer was able to get the break back in the 4th game of the match, but suddenly at 4-all Federer was broken and Murray was able to serve out the 1st set. In the second set, things were basically proceeded on serve, with Murray routinely hitting his serve at 130 mph and Federer struggling to achieve his usual unerring accuracy on the serve, which resulted in less aces than his 25-year-old opponent. Federer had to save break points in his 3rd and 5th service games. Murray was serving at 30-0 in the 12th game when suddenly Federer won 4 straight points, primarily with excellent net play to win the 2nd set. Serving at 40-0 in the third game of the 3rd set the rain started coming down and play was suspended. Unfortunately for Murray, the decision was made to close the roof on Centre Court, transforming the match into an indoor 3-set match on a grass court, basically ideal conditions for the 16-time major champion. In the 6th game of the 3rd set Murray was at 40-0 when suddenly things got complicated and there were ten deuces, with Federer having 6 break points and Murray's serve. The game was more than 20 minutes long, with Murray repeatedly getting out of trouble with big serves. Eventually, the young Briton succumbed and Federer was able to hold serve to maintain his lead and claim the 3rd set with a 1-break lead 6-3. In the fourth set, Murray barely missed a forehand down-the-line passing shot on a breakpoint in Federer's first service game but then lost his own serve in his 3nd service game and Federer was able to calmly hold serve without incident to win the 4th set with another 1-break lead 6-4.

AUS OPEN 2012: Men's Semifinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the Men's Semifinals at the 2012 Australian Open. My predictions for the Women's Semifinals are also available. This year I previously predicted 4 of 4 women's quarterfinals correctly and predicted 4 of 4 men's quarterfinals correctly.

Novak Djokovic SRB (1) vs  Andy Murray GBR (4). The World #1 and defending Australian Open champion re-asserted his dominance over the rest of the field by dismissing World #5 David Ferrer in ruthless  fashion in straight sets 6-4 7-6(4) 6-1.

© Ben Solomon/Tennis Australia

The Serbian has won half of his major titles at this venue and is looking in similar top form this year. Also looking good is the Scot Andy Murray who has made it to the Australian Open final for the last two consecutive years. Against 1st time quarterfinalist Kei Nishikori Muray deployed his vast reserves of guile, power and speed to gently demolish the Japanese youngster in straight sets 6-3 6-3 6-1. Murray has been in the Top 4 in the world since 2008 but only in the last year or so has he solidified his status there, reaching the five major semifinals in a row. It is time for him to take the next step, and beating Djokovic in a major final would be that step. Unfortunately, I don't think that is going to happen in Melbourne, but I do believe that Murray will come close, winning at least one set and possibly two. Head to head Murray has a decent 4 wins 6 losses record against Djokovic and ever since his disastrous performance in last year's final has taken his clashes with his contemporary rival extremely seriously. (The two were born one week apart, in 1987.) Murray was on his way to beating Djokovic last summer in the Cincinnati Masters final when the Serbian retired from the match and the two played one of the best matches of the year at the Rome semifinals. On hard courts the head-to-head narrows to 4-all, with all of Murray's victory over Djokovic coming on this surface. Much has been said and implied about Murray's decision to hire Ivan Lendl as a coach, and I do think it is the mental aspect of the game in which Murray needs to demonstrate improvement when playing against the only three people in the world more higher ranked than he is. That being said, after the year Djokovic has just had he is not particularly lacking in the confidence department, as will be made clear by the end of the match. Mad Professah's pick: Djokovic.


Roger Federer SUI (3) vs Rafael Nadal ESP (2). This is the 27th meeting between the two future Hall of Famers who have a staggering 26 major titles between the two of them, with 10-time major winner Nadal famously leading their legendary rivalry 17-9, although 16-time major champion Federer leads 5-4 on hard courts. Oddly, the two have met only once at the Australian Open where Nadal won their 2009 final by racing through the final 2 sets of their 5-set match. That result so devastated Federer that he was reduced to tears during the trophy ceremony and had to be comforted by his opponent, allowing the Swiss great to literally cry on his shoulder.

© Getty Images

Another oddity is that this is only the second time the two have met in the semifinal of a major (the other time was at Roland Garros in 2005 and it was won by Nadal on his way to his first major title of his career). Although the physical match-up between their two styles of play puts Federer at a distinct disadvantage, the primary problem the Swiss player has had in this storied rivalry is the mental dimension. However, since the last time they met the result was a 6-3 6-0 demolition of Nadal that should put the mental edge between these two players at the lowest level it has been in years. Federer just played his 1000th career match (814 wins-186 losses) in dismissing an in-form Juan Martin del Potro in scintillating fashion, 6-4 6-3 6-2. Nadal, on the other hand, played well over 4 hours of grinding tennis to defeat a player 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 6-4 6-3 who has only ever beaten him three times in thirteen meetings. I believe all of these factors will combine to give Federer the edge to reach his 23rd (!) major final. Mad Professah's pick: Federer in 3 or 4 sets or Nadal in 5 sets.

ATP World Tour Finals 2011: Federer Ends Year 17-0; Wins 6th YEC

As I predicted yesterday, Roger Federer ended his 2011 season like he has 5 times before (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010), winning the very last competitive match of the year in the year-end championship for a record 6th time. This time he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 in one of the best matches of 2011, winning his 70th title in 100 tour finals. It was his 2nd consecutive tournament final win over Tsonga, and somewhat bizarrely his second match win over Tsonga in the tournament, due to the round-robin nature of the early rounds of the year-end championship.

Federer improved to a 8-3 career head-to-head record over Tsonga, and 6-2 in the astonishing 8 matches the two played this year. He ended the year with a remarkable 17-match winning streak in the indoor hard court season which netted the former #1 (and now #3) 3 titles, in Basel, Paris  and London. He demolished his arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal in straight sets and never even got the opportunity to meet Novak Djokovic at this year's year-end championship due to the Serbian's mental and physical collapse.

Federer's 807th career win places him ahead of Stefan Edberg at #6 on the all-time wins list, behind Andre Agassi at 870. His 6th year-end championship breaks the tie Federer had with Ivan Lendl who won his 5 titles with a 39-10 record, Federer's is 39-7, also losing in the final in 2005 to David Nalbandian. He won $1.635 million and cemented his place at #3 in the rankings behind Djokovic and Nadal.

In 2011, Federer was the only player to have match points in two separate occasions against the player of the year in Djokovic (70-6), ending with a relatively pedestrian (by his standards) 64-12 record. Bizarrely, in 2009 Federr's record w 61-12 and he ended the year at #1. In 2010 it was 65-13 and he ended the year at #3.

In 2012, Federer will be playing to win his record 17th major title and his first singles Gold medal at the London Olympics. I wouldn't bet against him!