Groundhog Day? Another (4th) lost Major final.....reason to despair?.....I don't think so. Murray executed superbly for 2 sets, attacking Fed's backhand relentlessly, serving at 70% 1st serves, and staying aggressive. A case in point was at 4-all 15-all in the first set. Fed at the net and Murray charges in and blasts the ball straight at him, making him sway out of the way and delivering a clear big animal king of the jungle message. Oh and the ball went in, and he went on to break and hold his own serve to take the set.

 

This pattern continued into set 2, with Fed looked very uncomfortable in the face of this, and critically in the break points that Murray lost - he was going for it - executing his plan - we call these 'good mistakes', because in this 'execution mode', dithering is removed and when we are committed, success is much more likely. And then, when Murray had missed a couple of break opportunities, Federer turned it around in the 12th game at 30-all when he conjured up some magic to take the set.

 

Sets 3 & 4 were mainly completed after the rain and roof break, and whilst conditions had changed and possibly helped Federer, this in no way explains the sharp decline in Murray's serving that underpinned his eventual defeat.

 

For me Murray's post match review needs to acknowledge his progress and then focus on his serve. Quite simply you don't win a major with a 1st serve % of around 50% - Murray's % for sets 3 & 4. In contrast Federer's was around 70%, and his second serve average of 99mph is 12mph faster than Murray's. This goes a long way to explaining Fed's ability to get much more aggressive in sets 3 & 4, and his significant leap in playing level and apparent confidence. 

 

Is this mental or technical? How much did the 2nd set loss deflate him? In sets 3 & 4 Murray's body language sagged, although much less than in the past, and unsurprisingly Fed became more aggressive. Body language will continue to be a development area for Murray, and as a student of boxing he must know that the non-verbal signals he gives will either work for you or against you, so his aggressive bodyline play in set 1 gave way to sagging shoulders in sets 3 & 4, and may well have undermined his own confidence. Whether in business or in sport our posture helps create our mood - there is a reason why our forebears told us to stand up straight! As well as the impact upon our opponents it can help trick our body and then our mind into feeling more confident.