Roger Federer beats Andy Murray to win 16th Grand Slam title

Melbourne: The Swiss master did it again. Roger Federer now has a 16th grand slam title, a fourth in Australia and a stranglehold over his rivals that shows no sign of ending.

Britain's long wait continues. The added burden of 74 years of expectation was too much for Andy Murray and he failed to produce his best when it mattered most.

The Scotsman was brave but Federer was just too good, winning Sunday's Australian Open final 6-3 6-4 7-6.

It was not so much a match as a tennis lesson but Federer said it was players like Murray who brought out the best in him.

"I'm being pushed a great deal by the new generation coming up," Federer said.

"They've made me a better player, because I think this has been one of my finest performances in a long time, or maybe forever."

At the presentation ceremony, Murray broke down in tears, just as Federer had done when he won the 2006 final and again last year when he lost to Rafa Nadal.

"I can cry like Roger. It's just a shame I can't play like him," Murray said.

Federer's game is not quite as clinical and precise as it used to be but his grip on the game has never been tighter. Rarely was this better illustrated than yesterday's final at Melbourne Park as the pair captivated the Rod Laver Arena crowd with some absorbing rallies.

Murray went into the match full of optimism and there were moments when he had the World No 1 under pressure.

In the opening set, he broke Federer's serve when he chased down a drop shot then whipped a forehand across the court, then in the third set he broke him again, with another sweetly struck winner.

He also served for the third set in the ninth game and had five set points in the tiebreaker, but was unable to convert.

Throughout the match, Federer was always more aggressive. He made more unforced errors than Murray but also hit more winners, 19 with his forehand, six with his backhand and 11 thundering aces.

He wasted two match points in the tiebreak but took the third that came his way when he thumped a return back to Murray that put the Scotsman on the back foot and ended when he lamely slapped a backhand into the net.

Attendance: New record

The attendance record was broken at the Australian Open with 653,860 watching the year's opening grand slam, officials said yesterday.

The figure smashed the previous record by nearly 50,000 in the fortnight of tennis. The highest ever day/night attendance in grand slam history was recorded twice during the first week.

That record now stands at 77,043 fans for play on Saturday, January 23, which eclipsed the previous record by more than 11,000 fans.

There was also huge interest online and prior to the men's final. Unique visitors to the tournament website were logged at 9.38 million, while page views jumped 41.4 per cent to 302,270 million. The most popular male players among web users were Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal while among the women Justine Henin and Maria Kirilenko led the field.

— Compiled from agencies

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