Watch out Andy Murray, Roger Federer plans to win the lot now

1/2
13 April 2012

Roger Federer today sent out a warning to Andy Murray and the rest of the tennis world by targeting his first clean sweep of Grand Slam titles in a year.

When Federer was Australian Open champion in 2004, 2006 and 2007 he went on to win Wimbledon and the US Open in each of those seasons, but he came up short at the French Open.

Now buoyed by his convincing triumph in yesterday's final here over Murray, the world No1 is targeting his first Slam of Slams.

Federer said today: "It is a big statement at the start of this year to win here and every time I have played well at the Australian Open I went on to have a good season.

"This latest Slam gives me a sense of security and I am excited because I have played some of the best tennis of my life over the last two weeks. At times, in recent years, I lost that ability and battled to get back into the best shape and now it's about maintaining this level of play.

"Who'd have thought in the last 12 months that I would have won three Slams and had twin girls. A lot has changed but the success remains the same."

This was Federer's 16th Grand Slam title and his fourth since beating Murray in the 2008 US Open Final. That victory came during a difficult period for Federer, who struggled with injury that season and was overtaken in the world rankings by Rafael Nadal.

Those troubles are now far behind the Swiss star, who said: "I lost the edge on my movement in 2008 and that's come back and my backhand and forehand are going really good along with my confidence.

"Together with my friend and coach Severin Luthi, who is also the Swiss Davis Cup captain, we came up with a plan to turn this thing around. I told him, Trust me , I know I am doing the right thing' and I have been correct.

"In 2008 when I was ill at the start of the year, I did begin to doubt my body. However, I caught up with guys who were playing really tough tennis and even when it was hard I was able to reinvent myself."

Despite beating Murray for the second time 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 in a Slam final without dropping a set, Federer says the 22-year-old is a formidable opponent who will end Britain's 74-year search for a men's Grand Slam champion.

He added: "It's not easy against Murray because he neutralises you very well and tangles you up in these rallies and you can't do anything about it. You play too passive and lose and so it is a case of finding the perfect balance and for me to do that in a tricky situation was very pleasing. Andy has the game to win a Slam — the question is just when."

Murray, himself, left Australia today convinced that he is closer to making that dream become a reality.

The Briton collected a silver salver, a cheque for £600,000 from his final appearance, a rise up the rankings to No3 and the knowledge that at present, he is the planet's best hope of making Federer's march toward an amazing 20 Slam titles remotely difficult.

Nadal has a knee problem, Novak Djokovic is out of sorts while Juan Martin del Potro is struggling with injury and the burden of being US Open champion — leaving Murray as the most potent force standing in Federer's path.

A tearful Murray showed his disappointment at yesterday's presentation but 24 hours later the British No1 was focusing on the future.

He told Standard Sport: "I am definitely getting closer and am improving every time I play in a Slam. My aim is to keep working hard and I know I will get opportunities in the future .

"I will sit down with my team and talk about this Slam but it is only a question of tweaking parts of my game. I can always improve but I know I'm not far away from winning and my focus is now on getting my preparations spot on for the French Open in Paris."

The 2009 French Open was the tournament that finally allowed Federer to enjoy Slam success on the clay courts that Nadal has dominated and there is no reason why Murray's game cannot be dangerous on the red stuff.

However, the areas of his game that allowed Federer to dominate for too long in the final need attention and include his first-serve percentage and consistency on the base line.

Murray recognised too late in the second set he was playing behind the base line and only when he move forward, taking the ball earlier in the third, did we see Federer come under real pressure.

Alex Corretja, the former world No2 and a clay court specialist, will now rejoin Team Murray for this next section of the tennis year and together with regular coach Miles Maclagan, has to formulate a strategy that can help him maintain the ground he has gained here in Melbourne.

Murray added: "I played a lot better on clay last year and I will be working extra hard in the build-up to the French Open with Alex and Miles to give myself the best possible chance. There are still a lot of things to improve."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in