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Federer dumped Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (11) in the Australian Open final on Sunday to extend his record tally of men's major titles to 16. Murray's Slam drought continues, as does Great Britain's.Here are five things we learned from the men's final:
1. Federer is no dummy
Federer was accused of sour grapes when he put down Murray's defensive style on Friday. But he wasn't wrong. If Federerattacks and is on his game, he'll beat the Scot more often than not.
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In the first two sets of the final, Murray hit a combined 12 winners compared to Federer's 28. The aggressiveness that Murray showed against Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals wasnowhere to be seen until the third set Sunday.
Perhaps it's easier to play aggressively against Nadal than Federer, but getting the first big strike on the ball in a rally sends the Swiss backward.Unlike in the Nadal match, Murray rarely served and volleyed -- once to be exact.
2. Murray's serve is still off
Murray needed a good serving performance to keep Federer at bay, and guess what? Thatdeserted him, too.
Murray's combined first-serve percentage was 57. And in the first two sets, he hit only two aces.
Then in the tiebreaker, Murray connected on four of 12 first serves.
"Ididn't serve well the first set," Murray told reporters, adding he thought he did better thereafter.
On the other hand, Federer served at 66 percent for the match.
3. Fed has no hard feelings, wethink
Federer's verbal volleys toward Murray on Friday suggested he doesn't like the 22-year-old all that much, but at least he paid him a bit of respect early in the final.
After Murray hit anastounding two-handed backhand down the line from well out of position, Federer applauded -- something he normally doesn't do.
But Murray missed similar shots the entire evening, the kind he had made in...