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[Philip]

Many congratulations to Andy for winning either Gold or Silver comes Sunday for GB.

I like what I saw today of Andy.

Andy was taking the fight to Djokovic, hitting the ball hard, accurate, to the side lines, focusing on Djokovic BH, and coming to the net quickly to finish off the points. Andy was not afraid to attack today. I like Andy steely mental attitude. Even though he wasn't serving at his best in the second set, he was digging in and fought toe to toe with Djokovic, not yielding an inch.

I notice Andy has learnt two things from the Wimbledon final
1. When Djokovic hits a winning shot, Andy no longer waste his energy trying to run to reach (also less chance of injury)
2. In Andy approach shot hitting deep to one corner, Andy then slices his volley to the other side, with the ball dying short to give Djokovic no chance to run and reach the ball.

If Andy was able to produce more powerful 1st serves then he would have won more easily.  

Based on this, I think it is quite possible for Andy to win in 4 sets vs Fed.  The main reason being Fed having been stretched to the limit by Delpo for 4.5 hours having had to serve to stay in the match 12 times. Federer admitted to being "extremely drained" by the marathon encounter. The mental and physical stress on the body must have taken a toll and will induce more errors come Sunday.

My only slight concern is if Andy has to play 2 long mixed doubles match tomorrow then his energy reserve could get low comes Sunday and will affect the 1st serve percentage.

The other concern is if it rains and the roof closes.  Fed majestic FH is deadly (although has little margin for error). It is so fast that it puts Andy on the backfoot.

One thing I have noticed is that Andy from time to time slightly hooks his FH risking the ball falling short or into the net.  There is something feeling slightly unnatural about his hooked FH. It takes more time to set up and moves slower unlike Fed's deadly and pure FH.  I think Andy will get this sorted out comes the USO.

[tennis_girl]

I'm not sure it will necessarily be a high quality match on Sunday. The court seems to be in very poor condition, with a lot of bad bounces.

Hopefully they can work some magic on it before the final.

Why is the court so shitty though? I thought they redid it before the tournament.

[Iris]

Why is the court so shitty though? I thought they redid it before the tournament.

Although the court appeared to be in perfect condition at the start of the tournament the grass roots didn't have time to 'anchor' themselves in therefore after the first day of play it began to look like the last day of play in the last tournament, hence the bad condition of the court.

[BigNose]

Well I did predict Andy would beat the Joker in 2 sets. Awesome display from our boy. The Joker just couldn't handle Andy's power and consistency. And his 2nd serve is no longer something to be laughed at. I sense a changing of the guard over the next 18 months. I think its Andy's time now.

So now its an Olympic final and another showdown with a man who is truly a living god.  I'm going to take Andy to beat the Fed in 3 tight sets. That's  assuming the weather is fine and its played outdoors. If it rains and the match is played under the roof then god will win in 4.

[Iris]

MM @11.46 I agree with everything you say, I have been a Murray fan since he won the Junior Grand Slam in America.  I have groaned at the way he has played in some of his matches and been over the moon at the way he has played in others (such as Friday).  For the first time I strongly feel that there is a new Andy emerging this year, already the roller coasting is beginning to disappear and a determination from him is beginning to show through.  Everyone is entitled to their opinions and if Andy wins on Sunday no doubt we will still have a variety of conflicting opinions and that is why I enjoy reading the posts in MW and long may they continue.

[Bevc]

Wow, emotions seem to be running high tonight.  And this springs to mind



H2H to follow

[Bevc]

Right, lets look at the positives about this rematch.

Andy's never lost more than 3 matches in a row to Fed.

Andy needs to remember that he's beaten Fed 8 times and especially after he's just lost a grand slam to him

This is new ground for both of them.  Fed hasn't been in an Olympics singles final either - strange that

Picture of Andy courtesy of John and Fed from  both were after their respective wins today.

Oh, what time is this scheduled for?