Wimbledon Tennis 2012: Everything You Need to Know About Federer vs. Murray

After Roger Federer surprisingly dominated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray disposed of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets, the two are headed for a monumental clash in the Wimbledon 2012 final.

Federer, of course, is a six-time champion at Wimbledon and arguably the greatest grass-court player tennis has ever seen. 

Murray enters his fourth Grand Slam singles final, still searching for the first major victory for the British men since Fred Perry in 1936. He's the first men's player from the United Kingdom to reach the Wimbledon final since Bunny Austin in 1938.

You may be surprised to know that Murray actually holds the advantage over Federer in head-to-head matchups all time. He's 8-7 against Federer, dating back to their 2005 match in Bangkok.

But, ironically, Murray enjoyed most of his success against Federer early on, despite Federer aging these days. He won six of his first eight matches against Fed-Ex, but has lost five of his last seven matches against the tennis great since, including the 2010 Australian Open final. Federer beat him at the final in Dubai this year.

Now, to examine how the two have been playing lately.

Heading into Wimbledon 2012, Federer—the world No. 3—was 39-6 with four singles titles. Murray—the world No. 4—was 26-9 with one singles title.

Federer has reached the final in 22 sets. Murray has reached the final in—you guessed it—22 sets.

Aces

Murray ranks fifth in aces at Wimbledon this year (74), while Federer ranks ninth in that category (59), per Wimbledon.com.

Serve Points Won

Interestingly enough, Murray doesn't even rank in the top 20 in first serve points won, but ranks second in second serve points won (65 percent). Federer ranks 18th and 10th in the two categories, respectively.

Serve Return Points Won

Federer and Murray rank first and second, respectively, in first serve return points won. They flip-flop in second serve return points won.

Break Points Won

Also, Federer and Murray rank first and second, respectively, in break points won.

Wimbledon Semifinals

In his match against Djokovic, Federer only had 10 unforced errors. He also won an astounding 72 percent of his second serves, partially due to the fact that he averaged 102 mph on that second serve. He certainly didn't hold back.

Against Tsonga, Murray stayed with the trend, winning 64 percent of his second serves—interesting given he held back on those second serves, averaging 88 mph—but he was similar to Federer in that he committed only 12 unforced errors (to Tsonga's 42).

Conclusion

 It all adds up to what should be a tight, hard-fought battle in the final on Sunday. Murray can taste his first major victory (which can be both good and bad, depending on his mindset), while Federer must be feeling sky-high after a brilliant display against Djokovic.

My gut feeling has Federer winning his seventh Wimbledon title, much to the chagrin of the embattled Murray. He looked fantastic against Djokovic, actually appearing to move better on the grass at 30 years of age. If he can put pressure on Murray with that second serve, that could be the difference.

Of course, Murray certainly has a shot. He's not beating himself, which is incredibly important given his emotional blowups the past few years—and a lot of credit must go to new trainer Ivan Lendl (an eight-time major champion himself). Murray also figures to move better on the grass against Federer than Djokovic did.

Whatever the outcome, you can expect to see a spectacular battle come Sunday at the All England Club.

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