Beaten By the Best

By SIMON LEWIS US OPEN TENNIS

ANDY Murray hailed Roger Federer as “the best player ever to play the game” after his grand slam final debut ended in disappointment in New York as the defending champion powered to a fifth successive US Open title.

Federer, who had lost his number one world ranking to Rafael Nadal and lost both his Australian Open and Wimbledon titles in 2008, ended the grand slam year on a high with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 victory in one hour and 51 minutes over the British number one to equal Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras as five-time US Open winners and move to within one grand slam title of Sampras’ record of 14.

Murra (21), had had history in sights after defeating world number one Rafael Nadal in the previous night’s semi-final, aiming to become the first British male since Fred Perry at the US national championships in 1936 to win a grand slam.

It was not to be, though, as Federer, seeded second behind Nadal, completed his 34th consecutive victory at Flushing Meadows to arrest a run of three grand slam defeats this year – in the Australian Open semi-final to Djokovic and to Nadal in the French and Wimbledon finals – and prove to his critics he was far from being a spent force in the game.

Job done, and witnessed by a 23,763 capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium as Federer also gained revenge for a second consecutive defeat to Murray in Dubai in March.

“I had a great tournament but I came up against, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game today,” the young Scot said on court afterwards.

“I had got the better of him the last two times we played and he definitely set the record straight so congratulations to him.”

As Federer picked up his US 1.5million winner’s cheque, he said: “It feels great.

“This is definitely a special moment in my career.

“I’ve had a couple of tough grand slams this year so to take this one home is incredible. It means the world to me.”

Murray picked up a cheque for one million dollars, 750,000 for his runner-up finish and a 250,000 bonus for coming second in the summer’s US Open Series, which had brought him a Masters Series title in Cincinnati and a semi-final finish in Toronto.

Asked what he had learned from the experience of his first grand slam final, Murray replied: “That I’ve got a lot of improving to do if I want to win one of these tournaments.

“I love playing in front of these crowds. I played three times on Arthur Ashe, and it’s been the best time of my life.”

Federer had stormed to a four-set victory over third seed Djokovic in the semis on Saturday and had enjoyed a day’s extra rest while Murray was battling Nadal on Sunday.

He looked supremely confident, his forehand immaculate and his mobility excellent as he broke Murray to go 4-2 up in the first set and broke again to wrap up the set in 27 minutes.

Federer took his sixth game in a row to break Murray and take a 2- 0 lead in the second set, only to see the British player break back to love. Murray held his serve comfortably to draw level at 2-2 and he won the next three points on Federer’s serve to earn another triple break point off another loose volley at the net from the second seed.

Federer saved the first but Murray should have wrapped the game up in a similar rally on the next point when a Federer forehand mid- point looked long but play continued to the defending champion’s benefit.

With Murray serving to send the set into a tiebreak at 6-5 down, Federer re-emerged from his mid-set lull to convert the first of three set points, punishing a drop shot at the net with a winner down the line.

Having matched Federer throughout that set, Murray found himself 2-0 down and with a mountain to climb as the 12-time grand slam winner celebrated with a huge roar. From there it was only a matter of time before the Swiss star won the tournament. At 5-2 up in the set and with his second match point, there would be no denying Federer as he fired in overheads at the net that Murray could only return for so long, eventually sending a tired forehand to the net.

(c) 2008 Belfast Telegraph. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.