Murray conundrum for Federer

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:22

Murray boasts an enviable record against the former world number one having won five of their seven meetings.

“He’s young, so I still have to figure him out a little bit,” said Federer. “He’s changing his game as time goes by. Every time you play him he plays a bit differently. Whereas, for me, it’s different. He knows what to expect. That’s the advantage of a youngster.”

He added: “I’m aware he has beaten me more than I’ve beaten him but, on big occasions, I think I came through.

“I have to build on that and make sure I play a tough and good match against him. Anything else is not going to do the job.”

Both Murray and Federer have come into the competition following spells on the sidelines, with the British number one struck down by a virus last month and the Swiss nursing a back injury since his emotional defeat by Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open.

The Scotsman has quickly returned to form this week, however, and has not dropped a set in victories over Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, Tommy Robredo, who retired with injury, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Albert Montanes.

Murray believes he has the key to beating Federer but has maintained all week he is not putting extra pressure on himself to win the title.

“It’s important to serve solid, make a lot of balls and not feel like you have to do anything special on each point to win against him,” he said.

“It takes a little bit of time to get that rhythm back. I’m not making many errors but I’m not making that many winners either so hopefully I’ll be able to work on that.”

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