MELBOURNE, Australia — Andy Murray was sucking in deep breaths, trying to recover from his exhausting win over Roger Federer. Pain was very much on his mind.
The U.S. Open champion defeated Federer 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 in a four-hour Australian Open semifinal last night. It was Murray’s first victory against the 17-time major winner at a Grand Slam event.
But with the clock about to strike midnight, Murray already was thinking about tomorrow’s final against two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic, who is on a 20-match winning streak at Melbourne Park. This will be a rematch of their U.S. Open final.
“Every time we play each other it’s normally a very physical match,” Murray said. “I’ll need to be ready for the pain. I hope it’s a painful match — that will mean it’s a good one.”
Murray had a 10-9 record against Federer, but had lost his three previous Grand Slam matches to the Swiss star. One of those defeats came at Wimbledon last year. Murray said the disappointment of that loss triggered his run to the gold medal at the London Olympics, and then his drought-breaking triumph at the U.S. Open.
“You know, I’ve obviously lost some tough matches against him in Slams,” Murray said. “So to win one, especially the way that it went tonight, yeah, was obviously nice.”
Murray ended a 76-year drought for British men at the majors when he beat Djokovic in five sets in the final at Flushing Meadows.
He’s hoping the step-by-step manner in which he has crossed career milestones off his to-do list will continue today.