Tennis story by Boris Webb, Thu, 17 Aug 2006 11:52:00 GMT


Andy Murray became only the second man to beat world number 1 Roger Federer this year when he overcame the Swiss ace 7-5, 6-4 in the second round at the Cincinnati Maters. Murray hailed the win as the "greatest" of his career so far.

The 19-year-old Scots tennis ace has just about begun to realize his potential, but said the thoughts of a Grand Slam were yet far away. "Even if he wasn't playing well, him at 70% is better than 95% of the world's players. He's played bad matches before and come through all the time, so it was still the best win in my career," he said after the game. Before this defeat, Federer had won 55 straight matches in North America and was beaten by only Rafael Nadal this year.

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Murray's new coach Brad Gilbert was delighted with the achievement. "The best four words in tennis are: game, set, match, Murray - and that's what we heard," he said. "It was a great win for the kid and, hopefully, that will just boost his confidence even more that he can play with anyone in the world. The most important thing when you are 19 is to keep getting better."

Murray who overcame Tim Henman on Tuesday broke Federer's serve seven times in a dream match. But afterwards he showed he still had a sane head on his shoulders. "I think now I'll have a bit more belief going into Grand Slams that I can go deep, although I don't think physically I'm good enough to win a Grand Slam just yet," he admitted. "To win a Grand Slam you have to be in unbelievable shape. I just think I need to get better physically."

Murray now plays Robby Ginepri in the third round later today.