Sweet 16

Roger Federer won his record 16th Grand Slam title today!

It was a solid performance yet again from FedEx, defeating Murray and extending Great Britain's grand slam drought. Federer came out firing, using a solid backhand and an incredible forehand to defeat the Scot. Murray did well to get the ball to the Federer backhand, but he didn't put enough pace on his shots during the first two sets. Federer started anticipating shots and running around to his forehand, where he controlled the points. In the third set, Murray took the break to go up 4-2 on a great volley point. A few points later, Murray scorched a spectacular forehand past Federer from way outside the court, which he followed by yelling to pump up the crowd. I think Federer fans everywhere, myself included, felt the match completely change directions on that point. I felt like this one was going the distance, and a classic 5-setter was on the way. However, the 3-time Aussie Open champion had different plans. With Murray serving for a 4th set, Federer broke to 5-4, then held to 5-5. They traded service games and headed into a tiebreaker. Both players have strong tiebreak records in all matches, but Federer was 18-5 in breakers in major finals going into the match while Murray was 0-1 (Federer took a breaker on Murray in the 2008 US Open Final, Murray's only other major final). Murray started the tiebreak well; he appeared to be finding his game again. Federer played a great point at 9-9, and eventually won when Murray netted a down-the-line backhand at 11-12. Federer threw up his arms in celebration as he had taken his 16th major title.