Andy Murray must find different approach to beat Roger Federer
Sunday 23 August 2015 13:31, UK
Andy Murray needs to figure out a new game plan if he wants to get the better of Roger Federer – that's the view of Sky Sports tennis expert Mark Petchey following the Scot's defeat in the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
Murray lost his 10th consecutive set to Federer during the straight sets semi-final defeat on Saturday.
The British No 1, who went above the 17-time Grand Slam in the world rankings this week, has not beaten Federer since the 2013 Australian Open.
Petchey believes Murray must find a new approach to facing the Swiss great if they collide at this year's US Open, which will be shown live on Sky Sports.
"He's got to figure out a way - that's 10 straight sets he's lost now to Roger - he's got to do something different if they play in New York.
"He has lost 10 straight sets now against Roger as well and that's going to burn a little bit.
Live ATP Masters Tennis
"Murray's had a great couple of weeks. Obviously there was a slow start in Washington, but that was probably expected after the Davis Cup.
"But winning in Montreal against Novak [Djokovic] is obviously going to give him a huge boost and I think he ran out of a little bit of gas."
Murray had played more than double the hours on court than Federer this week and the fatigue showed in the opening set on Saturday with Federer snapping an early break.
Petchey believes Murray set the wrong tone at the start of the game, not matching the fight that the 34-year-old Federer was playing with.
"Let's revel in that performance today. Still going in the way he [Federer] does with the passion - just look at how excited he was to win at the end of that tie-break which was intense.
"The better player won out there. The guy that turned up today with a little bit more power on his ground-strokes and that got him over the finish line.
"The first point of the match really set the tone of it. This is the perfect point for him [Murray] to say to Roger 'I'm coming at you, I've lost the last eight sets; I've got to do something different.'
"He's got options here and what does he do? He throws it back into the middle of the court and a couple of shots later he's lost the point.
"Federer was fearless right from the start really early on. And Andy wasn't getting any free points.
"He had it all going on and Andy's left guessing."
