Mmmm.. hope it will turn out as a great final..
i ll pick federer in 3.. but again if he keeps havin lapses after gettin a great start, like in his previous 2 matches, he is bound to suffer..
Murray's played brilliantly against nadal, if he keeps playin like tht, this year we'll witness on the greatest US Opens we've ever witnessed in a long long time..

"This is the surface I'm most comfortable on, I enjoy playing aggressive, especially against the best players." Oh Andy, Andy that's what your fans have been telling you for years! Makes me think his coaches have been telling him something different!
Come on!

Deuce-
Its not that Andy hasnt been able to play aggressively, he has, the problem is that when it has mattered he hasn't been able to pull it off. That is the difference. Its about consistency and he hasnt been able to play consistently well while being aggressive.

That's all.

isabeau: yes, I take your point..but..many times, but esp. AO against Fed., have I seen Andy NEVER be aggressive, even when he has the short ball and the open court, after he has set up a brilliant return. Aaaahhh!

deuce,
Andy did not blink against Rafa yesterday. He will be even more aggressive today.

problem with andy is that against rafa he has a mindset that if i am not aggressive i am gona lose so he is aggressive against rafa all the time but against fed he doesnt think the same way and thinks there are other ways to beat him too. he shud apply the same aggression against roger too.

my pick is murray in 3.

This is a a fascinating match up. Even though seeded 3rd and 4th, I think the final most wanted to see pitting arguably the two best hard court players in the world against each other in a repeat of the Australian Open final earlier this year.Federer has shown flashes of the form he displayed while winning at Cincinnati last year, but he can get a lot better. The forehands are still going long. The backhands are still missing by quite a margin. The first serve still demands higher percentages. The important thing, though, is he has started to win these close matches which he was conveniently losing during the earlier part of the year. Against Berdych, it was 7-6 in the third, yesterday it was 7-5 in the third when he faced two virtual match points on his serve. Murray has been more consistent than Federer,but if federer can get to a fast start,he has a shot for sure. Murray has the edge in form,but fed has been Federer who has been brilliant, erratic, but supremely confident. That confidence will make a difference. If current form is anything to go by,Murray should win in 3. But if Federer can lift his game to the next level(not impossible) then federer has a good chance at winning.

If the past two matches of each contender is the yardstick, Murray should win unless of course Roger suddenly regains consistency with UE count decline.

agreed 100 percent w/ Kelli - if i HAD to make a pick it would be Murray in 3 (based on current form), but really too close to call.

As mentioned on another thread, surprisingly, I think not having a coach is kind of a good thing for Murray at the moment, because his on-court attitude feels different, he looks much more positive and focused, as there is no coach to look up and complain to constantly in the players' box - instead he is just focused on his game plan, hm ... who would have figured? It is a hard pick for the final today, I will sustain from it and wish both players all the best (C'MON Roger!) ;)

federer will be the winner in 3 tight sets

federer 6-3 7-6

Federer 7-5, 64
Murray 6-3,3-6,7-6
Jai Ho

Feels as close to 50/50 as you can get. Federer will probably get off to a quick start as usual- we'll see how a (relatively) early start effects Murray.

All is very quiet in Toronto. Murray is playing with abandon.

FED TRAILING

well, Fed certainly did not get off to a quick start!

any ETA for restart?

whats the condition of the rain folks? does any one has any idea?

How many rain delays now, three? Horrible for the players and whoever handles it better will win.

3

Warm-up about to start back in Toronto.

Playing again ... and Fed breaks back.

Woo Hoo Vamos Andy! Just hold pleasae

Well deserved andy! To defeat Rafa and Roger back to back is some achievement.

These two are playing brillant tennis this last game.

Deuce. Hope you've cracked open the champagne. What an impressive win. So happy for him.

a slumping murray..a coachless murray...ZERo chance against nalby... these were some of the voices coming out during the week..LOL

well done boy, off to cincy ! congrats alex and duece :D

Big Congrats to "slumping, coachless Murray" !!

Thanks guys! This'll be a massive boost for Andy's confidence beating Nalby, Rafa, Fed, first time he's beaten Fed in a final, YES! Played that 11th game so brilliantly to break Fed, just as I thought Fed was coming back. What a champ.
ed: just off to do some slurping ;)

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS !!!!!!

croc - my prediction, though I didn't get the chance to post it, was also 6-3, 7-6, but to muzz not fed. I'm not surprised by this result.

smr - yep, muzz really needs to find a coach and fix his form quickly:)

vamos (and other sympathetic rafa fans) - thanx for your moral support. Muzz has obviously eventually listened to what folks have been saying about needing to be more agressive.

Long live the new up 'n' at 'em muzz!

deuce - hi 5s !!!!

To all the long suffering Murray fans,

Congratulations on your guy breaking the drought and finally getting a well-deserved win! He did it in fine fashion, beating both Rafa and Fed. Well done!

He had to be really tough with all those rain delays, but he got the job done in two tight straight sets! This is the best I have seen him play in quite some time. It will help him quite a bit as he gets ready for the USO!

You all deserve to celebrate after hanging in there all along!

NNY - Murray winning Toronto is no kind of breakthrough. He won it last year.

At this point, all Murray can do to to break through is win a slam.

everyone please read this one,

This is what Fed had to say to Murary

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/interviews/Federe r-tells-Murray-that-time-without-coach-could-be-beneficial/articleshow /6298922.cms.

Ricky,

What I said was - congratulations on your guy breaking the drought! Meaning not having won a title. I am well aware that he won this event last year. In fact, I even mentioned Murray being the defending champion on another blog post in response to someone saying that he had ZERO chance to beat Nalby.

Goodness, gracious, all I was doing is trying to give a shout out to the Murray fans all in the spirit of letting them know that it was nice to see their guy win!

Ricky: it is significant in a couple of very important ways , don't be a party pooper! He beat Rafa and Rog on the way and not many players have done that and defended this title, first time this has been done since 1995. First time he's beaten Roger in a final. This coming after a time when he's been losing most matches he should've won and the problems in the camp with his coach. So much tennis is played between the ears and this will be a massive boost. He's got the talent and the work ethic give him a break.
NNY Thankyou, Andy's had so much stick and you've always been really supportive :)

And PS, has put some clear blue water between himself and Soderling re no 4 position, so important for USOpen.

hey ricky - you're just being deliberately awkward to keep the thread going, aren't you?

alex - what?

this isn't a breakthrough for Murray; that's not a fact, not a "deliberately awkward" statement.

Muzz has just beaten fed in a final for the very first time (- and at Masters level, in straight sets, and the day after doing the same to rafa at that). Of course it's not THE breakthrough he and his fans are waiting for, but it is A breakthrough nonetheless.

Sorry, ricky, but when you describe muzz as 'slumping' just after he dismantles an on-fire nalby in a match most of the wise heads thought he was in serious danger of losing, then I'm not too confident in your perception of the significance of 'things muzz'.

For those of us who follow muzz closely, it could also be a significant breakthrough in terms of the WAY he achieved it - by playing the more attacking, carefree tennis we have all craved from him for so long - and not just against rafa (where it has been so calculated in the past) but against fed too, and nalby for that matter. This could be a first-time real glimpse of the muzz we've been waiting for.

Don't be miserly, ricky. Just congratulate him, and let him and his fans enjoy a few moments of glory before cincy.

"it could also be a significant breakthrough in terms of the WAY he achieved it - by playing the more attacking, carefree tennis we have all craved from him for so long" - very good point and one i agree with

i just didnt agree with NNY calling it a "breakthrough" in general

Ricky is right. I think there's a danger here of reading too much into the results of this week. Sure, Murray is playing better. In beating Nadal and Fed in consecutive matches, Murray has shown his mind is getting clearer and his game is coming together. STILL, he HAS done this (a ATP 1000 title) before . From this win we can't extrapolate that he will win a slam, until he ACTUALLY wins one.

Both Fed and Nadal know that neither of them will lose the UsOpen in Toronto. Fed, obviously, is the clear favorite for New York. His game always takes a life of it's own on deco-turf and his record there is unbelievable.

All that said, you can't fault Murray for playing at his best in Toronto. After all he can't play the UsOpen before it starts. Murray's resurgence (hopefully not transient) is a very healthy development for tennis indeed.

I felt that it would be a nice gesture to congratulate the Murray fans on their guy's win. It's his first title this year, someone please correct me if I am wrong. It's was a much needed win for Murray, as he was in danger of losing the #4 ranking. He stepped it up and played much more aggressively. This should give him a big boost in confidence.

I guess I can see Ricky's point. A true breakthrough would be Murray winning a slam. However, he needed some kind of win to give him that belief and confidence.

imjimmy,

I also agree with you about not reading too much into this week's results. We have seen all too often in the past, that the winners of these two tournaments do not end up winning the USO or even doing well there.

I am also definitely in agreement with you on Fed and Rafa knowing that they will not lose the USO at Toronto. Point well taken! Now that I have read Rafa's interview after his loss to Murray, it has answered the questions I have had while watching him play at Toronto. I understand why he would want to protect his abdominals when he felt some tightness. No way does he want to go through another abdominal tear with the USO just around the corner!

I love that Rafa was at the Fed/Djoker match, checking out the competition. He had such a serious face! I heard on a Rafa forum that he was already practicing today in Cincy, focusing on his serve and backhand! So he knows what he needs to work on to get back to form.

I don't think Fed is the clear favorite at all. Even with his record on hardcourt, I am not sure that he still has the game he had in the past. I allowed for rust and the usual kinks that he has to work out, but watching both his matches with Djoker and Murray, I see some issues. Maybe he will work that out and get back to stellar form, but I think some of this is just the natural process of aging and nothing can change that.

I am very happy to see Murray playing well again. Once Djoker decided to wake up and actually play in his semifinal match with Fed, he showed some great tennis, too. Things are heating up nicely right in time for the USO.