Roger Federer, Andy Murray | featured news

Roger Federer’s semifinal win over Andy Murray today in London was close, the second one wasn’t. But they shared a similar plot: A lead by Murray that Federer snatched away, seemingly from out of nowhere.

The Big Four in men’s tennis came to New York minus Rafael Nadal, and for stretches of Saturday afternoon it looked as if the three present might be reduced to two.

Andy Murray stood with the Union Jack draped over his shoulders, an Olympic gold medal around his neck, flanked by the man he had just beaten, Roger Federer, and basking in the roar of the Centre Court crowd.

Once the Centre Court roof was closed, nothing could stop Roger Federer from winning his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title. The 30-year-old Federer finally equaled Pete Sampras' record at the All England Club, and won his 17th Grand Slam title overall, by beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 Sunday.

On a day judged as much by elapsed time as games won, Rafael Nadal came out looking the freshest. Nadal and Andy Murray won Friday to set up a semifinal matchup at the U.S. Open. They'll be back on the court Saturday - their third straight day of tennis at a tournament that has been forced into some drastic scheduling changes after losing two days to the rain.

After relentlessly running each other all over the court for more than three hours in a match that flip-flopped throughout, Rafael Nadal got the breaks he needed Saturday to beat Andy Murray 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (6). The top-ranked Spaniard, however, had to overcome a mid-match slump to reach his first final at the ATP World Tour Finals, where he will face 16-time major champion Roger Federer.

Roger Federer swept aside Britain's Andy Murray in straight sets to win the Australian Open final and claim the 16th grand slam of his record breaking career on Sunday.