“It was a very tough match, I relaxed a bit after I got the break in the second set,” Murray said. “It is great to have such a great record against Federer. He’s arguably the best player in the history of tennis.”
In 2008, Murray took the Doha title but lost in the first round at the Australian Open to the Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6(7-5).
In his semifinal, 4th seeded Roddick downed 5th seeded Gael Monfils of France 7-6(7-1), 3-6, 6-3.
“I wanted to win today not because he had beaten me before but because I wanted to reach the final,” said Roddick. “It is great to be in the final of the first tournament of the year.”
In his first tournament of 2008, Roddick at the Australian Open lost in the third round to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(9-7), 6-7(3-7), 8-6.
Murray, ranked 4th, leads Roddick, ranked 8th 5-2 head to head. In their last meeting at the Tennis Masters Cup in November at Shanghai, China, Murray won 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.
Both players' best grand slam result came at the US Open with Roddick claiming the singles title in 2003 for his lone grand slam victory. Murray reach the US Open final last year before losing to Federer in straight sets.
In tomorrow's final both men will look to rely on overpowering serves as well as similar aggressive baseline games. And although Murray is an outstanding server, Roddick holds the world's fastest serve speed record at 155 miles per hour.
Murray however was very impressive last week at the Capitala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tournament at Abu Dhabi. In winning the tournament, Murray defeated James Blake of the USA as well as Federer and world number one Rafael Nadal.
“It will be very difficult against Andy in the final,” said Murray. “He serves big and I will have to
return well. But I played well against him the last few times we met.”
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