Wimbledon 2012
Annoyingly missed most of the Murray match, but did see a bit of Ferrer - Del Potro. I agree he was very impressive, very hard to penetrate, which may make a difficult match for Murray. OTOH, while he doesn't have the power of Del Potro he has a lot more variety of pace, spin and angle and can pull Ferrer around a bit more. I checked the head to heads and while Murray has always lost to him on clay he's 5-1 on hard courts. So even tho Ferrer has improved, Murray probably starts favourite.
As for Tsonga, I'm not sure he's made much of an improvement this year (still ranked 6), except perhaps to be a bit more consistent. I think he's still lacking a bit mentally against the top four.
We shouldn't forget just how good the top 4 have been, Murray included, at making semis over the last few years. The standard is so high that he could easily lose either game, but I'm quietly optimistic of a place in the final. As you say, his game is too defence based to succeed against either Federer or Djokovic, and I'd be very surprised if Djokovic does not retain the title.
Nice to think a Brit will reach a final. Can't see it happening. Like 'Toothless Tim', always the nearly men. If Murray reaches the final I'll eat the cat.
And if Murray reaches the final, we demand pics 
Nice to think a Brit will reach a final. Can't see it happening. Like 'Toothless Tim', always the nearly men. If Murray reaches the final I'll eat the cat.
And if Murray reaches the final, we demand pics
Do my best. I always find the fur gets caught between the teeth. 
Nice to think a Brit will reach a final. Can't see it happening. Like 'Toothless Tim', always the nearly men. If Murray reaches the final I'll eat the cat.
And if Murray reaches the final, we demand pics
Do my best. I always find the fur gets caught between the teeth.
How many have you eaten before? I guess you must be wrong a lot.
You have a blowtorch don't you?
You have a blowtorch don't you?
Nah, singes the tongue. 
The cat is looking ever safer.
The cat is looking ever safer.
Early days, but whatever happens I don't understand why you seem to be delighting in him not succeeding.
The cat is looking ever safer.
Early days, but whatever happens I don't understand why you seem to be delighting in him not succeeding.
I don't understand why you think he has a chance of getting to the final. Love to see Murray reach the final, but as with all brits in major tournaments, they always flatter to deceive.
The cat is looking ever safer.
Early days, but whatever happens I don't understand why you seem to be delighting in him not succeeding.
I don't understand why you think he has a chance of getting to the final. Love to see Murray reach the final, but as with all brits in major tournaments, they always flatter to deceive.
I take it that the poor feline has had to bet all its 9 lives against such a cat-astrophy!
The cat is looking ever safer.
Early days, but whatever happens I don't understand why you seem to be delighting in him not succeeding.
I don't understand why you think he has a chance of getting to the final. Love to see Murray reach the final, but as with all brits in major tournaments, they always flatter to deceive.
As I said, early days... 2-1 now. I can't believe you think he has *no* chance. He's been to 3 finals before, he's the highest ranked and seeded player in his half. Seems to me you know nothing about tennis.
As you see reaching a final as success, he has *not* 'flattered to deceive' on those three occasions. Or perhaps you only watch Wimbledon.
The cat is looking ever safer.
Oh yeah? 
What a great game, and an excellent Murray performance. Ferrer has a very similar game to Murray, perhaps with a little less touch and a bit less maximum power. The truth is, Murray is the better player on grass, and if both play to a high personal standard, he will win. The only thing stopping that would be a lack of mental fortitude. PP suggests that is the case with Murray; it is not.
When he's failed to win his three previous finals, and if he fails to win this championship, it won't be through lack of spirit or fortitude (or, even more moronically, because he is British) but because there are three players in the world who are slighlty but significantly better than him. Nonetheless, we should celebrate and support the best British player in a lifetime
His serve was the best I've seen it this tournament. Good pace and rhythm at the end. His tactic on the stretch when Ferrer came in was to lob every time, until the sixth game of the third set. This was the wrong tactic, as accuracy on the stretch is difficult but his passing in that situation is exceptional. This will be important against all three of his potential future opponents. His smashing was also disappointing and needs improving, but he is getting better with each game.
He has a 5-1 record against Tsonga and I think matches up well against him. Tsonga has more power and excellent court coverage but is less consistent than Murray and has less subtlety. It's far from a foregone conclusion, of course, but as I've been saying for a while I fancy Murray to make the final. Unfortunately, nothing I saw today made me think he has any realistic chance against (presumably) Djokovic, but I will be hoping I'm wrong.
Well done Murray
First Murray game i've seen this time round, he looks good and should get past Tsonga beating him 5 times out of 6 previous.
Well done that man 
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I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I honestly think the Ferrer-Murray match is 50/50. They're equal in the head-to-head and Ferrer took Murray down at the French. Yep, that was on clay, but Ferrer looked mighty impressive against del Potro.
I'd give Murray the same odds against Tsonga in a potential semi-final. They're jostling for the #4 ranking and Tsonga has really lifted his game this year.
That said, I can't see anyone beating Djokovic, even Federer. In any case, I think the tournament winner will be one of these two players.
I just wish Murray would stop messing around and take the ball on consistently. When he plays aggressively he can compete with anyone.
His biggest problem is that he relies too much on sticking in there until his opponents make errors. He can get away with this against most, but not against the very best. The England football team has a similar mentality. They're scared to lose rather than trying to win. Maybe decades of failure mean the pressure's too great.
I'll cheer Murray on nevertheless. And it would be great to cheer him on come Sunday!