Australian Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 30 January 2010 /

Ben Caudell tells us how long it's been since a British male last won a Grand Slam, talks us through the stats between these two and puts his head on the block by tipping Andy Murray to finally end the wait.

Roger Federer (SWI) v Andy Murray (GBR)

Today's Australian Open Final has an intriguing air of expectancy riding on British hopeful Andy Murray, As Federer pointed out in his interview after a cool and calculated semi final win over Jo Wilfried Tsonga "Andy Murray would like to win the first Grand Slam in ....150, 000 years for Britain" well it hasn't been quite that long, in fact it has been 76 years since Fred Perry won both the US Open and Wimbledon Championships in 1936. So, will this year be a fruitful year for the British public or will we have to be patient and wait a little longer for a British Grand Slam winner?

Andy Murray has never had a better chance of winning the Australian Open for the first time in his career, it is unfortunate that he faces the world's greatest tennis player of all time in today's final but there are positives to look at when analysing this match-up. For all the great mans dominance of the modern game and love of five-set matches, Federer has lost three recent major finals - Wimbledon 2008, Australian Open 2009, and the US Open 2009, All three of these matches went to deciding sets so Murray will have to stay positive and fight for every point, and never give up hope. Murray will feel that he is better prepared for this final than he was in the US Open final in 2008, he is also in formidable condition both mentally and physically, and will be refreshed after two days off. At the 2008 US Open final, Murray played a rain - affected semi final with Nadal over the Saturday and Sunday before coming back on Monday to play Federer. Understandably the young Brit was annoyed and disappointed that he couldn't give it his best shot in that final. Today's match I believe will be a closer affair, Andy Murray has a winning head-to-head series lead over the Swiss master, currently leading 6-4, with four of the six wins being played on outdoor hard. The single best of five set match they have played was the US Open final in which Roger Federer destroyed the Brit in straight sets 6-2 7-5 6-2. Both players' passages through to the final have been relatively easy, Murray has dropped only a single set on route and Federer two sets. Federer clearly favours best of five set matches stating that "best of three-set play can go by in a flash. Here we will have much more time to solve problems we have, so I am excited about playing him in another Grand Slam Final"

We all know that Andy Murray has the ability to defeat Roger Federer, and Andy believes himself that he can do so. This match however will be all about the mental game, all figures and statistical information can be ripped up, today's match under the focus of the watching world will hopefully be a momentous occasion which I believe will go to Andy Murray in five sets, The 76 year wait will finally come to an end....

Selection:

Back Andy Murray @ 2.56
Back Over 40.5 Games @ 1.9
Back Roger Federer Most Aces @ 2.5

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