Wimbledon 2010: Gentlemen's Final Preview

The Flower of England Scotland was bludgeoned by the Mallorcan Matador on Friday. Muzz did bring his A game, but Rafa bought his A+ game. The key was probably in the second set tiebreaker. Rafa double faulted to hand Muzz a set point at 6-5. But it was not meant to be as Rafa came up big on the big points.

Q. When he hit that the double‑fault in the tiebreaker, I mean, it as a bit of a shocker. Did it throw you off?

ANDY MURRAY: No, not at all. I mean, not if you look at the next point he played. No, it didn't at all. He played a really good point. He hit a big forehand. Hit a good pass. He hit a great angle volley on the next point. Hit a let cord passing shot on the next one.

You know, there's nothing you can do about it.

Of course, the usual floggings of Muzz have already begun (only here thus far). Then again, it's not Muzz's fault.

Rafa will face Big Berd who is having a great year: reaching the finals in Miami and the semis in Roland Garros. He's beaten the Djoker and Fed to get to the final. Big Berd has long been heralded for his potential showing a big hitting game when he beat Federer in the 2004 Olympics, but has always been known as a bit of head case. This year he seems to have gotten his act together mentally, not letting bad breaks in a match bother him. On top of this, he is playing more consistently. He's definitely an opponent that Rafa will not understimate.

But then again, Rafa is at the peak of his powers. Besides his ground game, Rafa is hitting bigger on his serve, showing variety with his slice backhand, looking to come forward, and taking the ball early. In the mental toughness department, Rafa is probably the GOAT in my opinion. And, he's won this event before.

Prediction: Rafa in 4 sets.