It’s a new decade and many in Britain hoped it would be a new era to come with that new decade in British Tennis. Andy Murray was playing in his second major final of his young career but was again coming up against the undisputed master of men’s Tennis, Roger Federer.

The game was on in the wee hours of the morning so I hit record last night and got up this morning to watch it before the Football game. The first shot that came in from the live broadcast was of the two players standing in the tunnel before the game and one look at their body posture and their eyes and you could tell who was going to win. Murray looked nervous, perhaps even worried, while Federer had a look of a many wondering how long it would be before he picked up yet another trophy. Even in the stands the comparison was so different. The Murray family were leaping up and down with every point their boy scored while Federer’s wife sat there and simply applauded his each and ever point with an expression of ‘been there, done it and just another trophy to be won.’

It seemed that before I had even finished my breakfast that the first set was over and that by the time the kettle was boiled and I was sipping my first tea of the morning that the second was down as well. Murray was in a hole having dropped the first two sets and it was only a matter of time. Falling behind at all to Federer is a huge problem but never has the great man blown a two sets to love lead in a major final and lost.

Murray was clutching at his leg from time to time, wincing with pain at something at appeared to be hampering, but how refreshing it was to have a non-British commentator calling the game when the American in the booth duly noted that it’s interesting how players often pick up these little injuries when trailing in a game.

Murray fought hard in the third set, trying desperately to get something from the game and delay the inevitable. He took it to a tie break which seen Federer fail to take a couple of tournament winning chances as both players held serve and followed a break on one with a break on another to keep things level. Finally Federer took his serve and broke Murray and the announcer called what I could see coming from the first moment I seen the players in the tunnel before the match, “Game, Set, Match, Tournament Federer.”

Andy Murray, the great Scottish hope of British Tennis is just one win away from his first Grand Slam title, an achievement that will ensure his victory as British Sports man of the year 2010. Considering no British man has won a singles grand slam in 70-years and you get an idea of the pressure on Murray!

A final of a Grand Slam though isn’t a new experience for Murray who reached the final of the US Open in 2008 were he lost to Roger Federer. Murray has got to the final of the Australian Open by going through Marian Cilic in the semi-final and will play either Roger Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday’s final.

I must admit I have seen very little of the tournament due to the time it is on and being in work but I will be sure to set the PVR and record the final if I cannot put aside time to actually watch it.

The BBC Sports Personalities of the year shortlist has been drawn up and thanks to the powerful Interweb I have been unable to avoid finding out who is on it and therefore being drawn into questioning some of the choices. The list is as follows:

Jenson Button (F1 World Champion and bookies favorite)
Andrew Strauss (Cricket)
Tom Daley (diving)
Jessica Ennis (heptathlon)
David Haye (boxing)
Phillips Idowu (triple jump)
Beth Tweddle (gymnastics)
Mark Cavendish (Cycling)
Andy Murray (Tennis)
Ryan Giggs (Football)

It is hard to argue with the first five on the list, they are all World Champions and I don’t know enough about Beth Tweddle to argue her place amongs the shortlist. Jenson Button is a deserving favorite and thanks to the high profile sport of F1 he probably will win and I’m pleased for Mark Cavendish who had a fantastic year, but it is the Football choice that is making me ask questions.

Maybe the committee feel it unfair to have more than one person per sport but Brad Wiggins’ forth place finish in the 2009 Tour de France (the joint highest finish by a British rider ever) was a heck of a lot more impressive than Ryan Giggs’ football season. The old timer had a solid year but he wasn’t even his teams best player and certainly not the best footballer in Britain through 2009.

Boxing fans will call for Haye but the fact is he has had one or two fights in the whole year and while he became Heavyweight Champion of the World, and deservedly so, it was hardly against a magnificent opponent.

Cycling fans will argue who should be in between Cavendish and Wiggins: Was Cavs sprint victories all through the year more impressive than a 4th place finish in the toughest sporting event on the planet from Wiggins?

This shortlist always raises debate amongst sport fans and this year will likely be no different but I think it is indeed a safe bet that Button will walk away with the big prize and that the English Cricket team will win the team prize for their Ashes effort.

The British English Press have went from dreaming headlines along the lines of ‘Britain’s first Wimbledon Champion’, to actually writing tomorrows headlines along the lines of ‘Scotland’s lovable loser’.

Indeed, the dream is over for another year as Murray went down to Andy Roddick in four sets in their Wimbledon semi-final. It does however mark further progress from Murray who has gone one round closer to the final than the year before. Will he get a better chance to get back to the final again when Nadal comes back in twelve months? We’re just going to have to wait and see.

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Andy Murray had his toughest test of Wimbledon 2009 today but the usual feast of fist pumps, angry looking faces, and yells of ‘Come on Andy’ from the stands seen him through as it has with British players so many times in the past … Or at least since Tim Henman left the circuit. It was reminiscent of last years later round games when Murray rode the wave of a noisy centre court crowd and dragged himself to his best effort yet at Wimbledon off the back of his muscle flexing. This year looks like it will be more of the same and to be fair, as much as a nightmare it might be for Murray, you won’t find too many onlookers complaining if we see dramatic 5-set Tennis the rest of the way.

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We really only watch the first week of Wimbledon in the hope that we might see some crazy upset with a big name taking a fall about seven days before they should have but in general it is the second week when we all tune in to see the real exciting stuff. With today’s victory, Britain’s great hope, Andy Murray moved into the last sixteen — the second week.

All the top names generally are still in the competition and this is the stage when we start to see some of them getting drawn against one another. By this time next week we will know who will be playing in the mens final … A must watch.

Andy Murray has already won two Tennis tournaments this year but when it came to the crunch in the seasons first major down in Australia the Scott fell short losing the forth round game in five sets to Fernando Verdasco 2-6 6-1 1-6 6-3 6-4. I don’t know enough about Tennis to be overly critical but Murray will surely be kicking himself after going in with such form. Read More»