'13 Wimbledon champ Murray faces new foe in 11th Slam final

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'13 Wimbledon champ Murray faces new foe in 11th Slam final

HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Tennis Writer


LONDON (AP) — The 11th Grand Slam final of Andy Murray's career will be unlike any of the others in at least one way: The opponent will not be Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic.

Murray, the 2013 champion at Wimbledon, reached his third major title match of 2016 with a no-nonsense 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory against 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych in the semifinals Friday.

Supported by thousands of his countrymen at Center Court, Murray broke serve five times and played cleanly as can be, committing only nine unforced errors, 21 fewer than Berdych.

On Sunday, No. 2 Murray will play No. 6 Milos Raonic, a Canadian making his debut in a Grand Slam final.

"Obviously, first time I'll play a Slam final against someone that isn't Roger or Novak. So, yeah, that's different," Murray said. "But you never know how anyone's going to deal with the pressures of a Slam final. So just have to go out there and concentrate on my side. Do what I can to prepare well for it and see what happens."

Might be a refreshing change.

That's because while he did defeat Djokovic for both the 2012 U.S. Open championship and the 2013 Wimbledon championship — famously becoming the first British man to hold the trophy in 77 years — Murray has lost all eight of his other previous major finals.

That includes a pair this year: the Australian Open in January, and the French Open in June, both against Djokovic.

Overall, Murray is 2-5 against Djokovic, and 0-3 against Federer with a major title at stake.

Not that there's any shame in that.

After all, Federer holds the record of 17 Slam trophies, and Djokovic has 12.

During this tournament, though, the No. 1-seeded Djokovic was beaten in the third round by Sam Querrey, and No. 3 Federer lost his semifinal Friday against Raonic 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

When Berdych was asked whether he thinks Murray might win the title, he replied: "Definitely, he can. The fact that probably his biggest rival, Novak, is not in the draw anymore definitely helps."

Murray remembers not really having time to process that he was about to play in his first Grand Slam final before losing in straight sets to Federer at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Now that he's 29, he relishes the last-Sunday opportunities more than ever, no matter the foe.

"I guess the tournaments start to mean more to you the older you get, and you start to appreciate the history of the events probably more as you get older. When you're 18, 19, you're probably not as aware about those things," Murray said. "I never take it for granted. I know how difficult it is to make the finals of these events — and how hard they are to win."

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-07-09

[English 1]

Yea thats Murray!

I hope he loses as I am fed up with his lack of charisma, personality and scruffiness!

Time for a change I hope and Raonic is ideal.

Bloody miserable with the personality of a dead Haggis!

[dieseldave1951]

trouble is he's a jock when he wins and Brit when he loses

Yea thats Murray!

I hope he loses as I am fed up with his lack of charisma, personality and scruffiness!

Time for a change I hope and Raonic is ideal.

Bloody miserable with the personality of a dead Haggis!

[abrahamzvi]

Yea thats Murray!

I hope he loses as I am fed up with his lack of charisma, personality and scruffiness!

Time for a change I hope and Raonic is ideal.

Bloody miserable with the personality of a dead Haggis!

I hope the better player wins. Having said this, I still do hope Murray makes it this time!!!

[Eric Loh]

Raonic improved immensely now that he has McEnroe as his coach. Big serve and a lethal forehand against the best returner in the business. Rooting for Raonic. The big 4 have been dominating the tennis world for tar too long. Like to see strong challenges from the young guns like Thiem, Kei, Goffin and Raonic.

[Maggusoil]

Yea thats Murray!

I hope he loses as I am fed up with his lack of charisma, personality and scruffiness!

Time for a change I hope and Raonic is ideal.

Bloody miserable with the personality of a dead Haggis!

That's very unkind, however its your opinion and although his personality does not win tennis matches, tennis has produced some reasonably charismatic champions of late and our spectator's standards definitely rise with them.

I have been technologically and geographically unable to watch the tennis for a while. Tell me doe he still squeak like an alarmed rabbit when he plays shots. Quite aggravating.

I was happy to lose Maria Screachyourtitsoff from the tennis. This one I could do without also.

[Prbkk]

He's not very likeable but is a great player. His bad luck to keep running into Roger and Novak: in the previous era he could have won 7 or 8 slams.

But it's getting dull and great if Raonic wins.

[Ulic]

Murray is a separatist, go Raonic.

[ableguy]

Yea thats Murray!

I hope he loses as I am fed up with his lack of charisma, personality and scruffiness!

Time for a change I hope and Raonic is ideal.

Bloody miserable with the personality of a dead Haggis!

Get a life, do you have to be cute , personable, news worthy to be good at your job ??

[sd44]

Yea thats Murray!

I hope he loses as I am fed up with his lack of charisma, personality and scruffiness!

Time for a change I hope and Raonic is ideal.

Bloody miserable with the personality of a dead Haggis!

Get a life, do you have to be cute , personable, news worthy to be good at your job ??

i think there is perhaps a certain amount of hostility towards Murray, certainly from the English due to the fact he is Scottish. Also due to the fact that their darling sir Henman never won a slam. Since when has charisma, personality and appearance mattered to a sportsman focused on his game. Childish.

[anotheruser]

Yea thats Murray!

I hope he loses as I am fed up with his lack of charisma, personality and scruffiness!

Time for a change I hope and Raonic is ideal.

Bloody miserable with the personality of a dead Haggis!

Get a life, do you have to be cute , personable, news worthy to be good at your job ??

i think there is perhaps a certain amount of hostility towards Murray, certainly from the English due to the fact he is Scottish. Also due to the fact that their darling sir Henman never won a slam. Since when has charisma, personality and appearance mattered to a sportsman focused on his game. Childish.

Possibly they matter when a company is potentially going to sponsor you? You can be mediocre and if you are adored by fans make more from sponsorship than a more talented player might make out of endorsements.

[sd44]

Yea thats Murray!

I hope he loses as I am fed up with his lack of charisma, personality and scruffiness!

Time for a change I hope and Raonic is ideal.

Bloody miserable with the personality of a dead Haggis!

Get a life, do you have to be cute , personable, news worthy to be good at your job ??

i think there is perhaps a certain amount of hostility towards Murray, certainly from the English due to the fact he is Scottish. Also due to the fact that their darling sir Henman never won a slam. Since when has charisma, personality and appearance mattered to a sportsman focused on his game. Childish.

Possibly they matter when a company is potentially going to sponsor you? You can be mediocre and if you are adored by fans make more from sponsorship than a more talented player might make out of endorsements.

good point.

[Basil B]

He's not very likeable but is a great player. His bad luck to keep running into Roger and Novak: in the previous era he could have won 7 or 8 slams.

But it's getting dull and great if Raonic wins.

The way Murray played in the final set of the quarter final against Jo he could take on Roger or Novak and win easily.

This is Raomic's first Grand slam final and he will not have much support from the spectators.

For Raomic this this a big mountain to climb, for Murray it is a big mountain to fall down.

[thrilled]

Murray beat the Canadian 5 minutes ago.In my opinion if Murrays aponient had played him like he played Federer it may have been A different turnout.I'm not Britian or Canadian.My hats off to Murray,good match,

[Eric Loh]

Murray beat the Canadian 5 minutes ago.In my opinion if Murrays aponient had played him like he played Federer it may have been A different turnout.I'm not Britian or Canadian.My hats off to Murray,good match,

To win in 3 sets is total domination. Raonic biggest weapon are his big 140+ serve and blistering forehand and all that was neutralized by the brilliance of Murray. This got to be Murray at his best and reaching his peak form at age 29. With his new found confidence, Djokovic better watch out.