Federer–Murray rivalry

2005 Bangkok final

This match played between Federer and Murray was the first match of their rivalry and took place at the Thailand Open. While it was the 41st final of Federer's career, it was Murray's first career final. The world No. 1 Swiss ultimately prevailed in straight sets over the 18-year-old Scotsman.

2006 Cincinnati Masters round of 32

This match is notable as it occurred in Federer's historic 2006 season where he compiled a record of 92–5. Four of those losses came at the hands of his arch-rival Rafael Nadal, with the only other to Murray at the Cincinnati Masters. The world no. 21 stunned the dominant world no. 1, scoring the biggest upset victory of the young Scotsman's career. This match also marked the only tournament in 2006 where Federer failed to reach the finals.

2008 US Open final

Federer entered the match attempting to win his thirteenth Grand Slam title and a record fifth consecutive in New York, while the 21-year-old Murray had reached the finals of a Slam for the first time in his career. Federer came roaring out of the gates and comfortably secured the first set. The Swiss continued his dominance by achieving an early break in the second before Murray broke back to get back on serve. Federer would save three break points in the second set and eventually take the set. Federer would run away with the final set, sealing his victory with a pair of overhead smashes. This title pulled Federer within one of the all-time record of 14 majors held by Pete Sampras. Federer's victory also made him the only man to win five consecutive titles at two different majors (Wimbledon 2003-2007 and US Open 2004-2008).

2010 Australian Open final

The 2010 Australian Open was the second match they had played at a major, again meeting in the final. Murray entered the match with a head-to-head advantage of 6–4. Federer started the match on fire taking the first two sets. In the third set Murray raced to an early lead before surrendering the advantage and entering a tiebreaker. This would be a historic tiebreaker consisting of 24 points, making it the second longest in Grand Slam tournament history to Borg and McEnroe's 34 point tiebreaker in 1980 Wimbledon. Federer's victory marked his 16th major title extending the all-time record.

2012 Wimbledon final

Their match at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships was one of the most highly anticipated Wimbledon finals in the history of The Championships. Federer was in the midst of a twenty-nine month drought in Grand Slam titles, then the longest of his career since first winning Wimbledon in 2003. Meanwhile, Murray had become the first British man to reach the Wimbledon final since Bunny Austin in 1938. Many in the United Kingdom were excited that Murray could become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win Wimbledon. Murray sent the British crowd into utopia by winning the first set (the first set he had ever won in four finals). Federer fought off four break points in the second set before employing consecutive drop volleys to win the set. The third set featured a 20-minute game at 2–2 where Federer eventually broke Murray and took command of the match. The Swiss superstar would go on to win the match in four sets. This was a historic win as it was Federer's seventh Wimbledon tying him for most ever with William Renshaw and Pete Sampras. It also was Federer's 17th major title which extended the all-time record of the most coveted achievement in the sport. The victory also saw Federer return to world No. 1 for the first time since June 2010, allowing him to break Sampras' record of 286 weeks at World no. 1.

London 2012 Gold Medal match

Just four weeks after Federer defeated Murray in the Wimbledon Final, the two met again on the Wimbledon centre court, this time in the final of the men's singles tennis tournament at the 2012 London Olympics. Murray took revenge on a depleted Federer as he dismantled the world No. 1 in a three set, one sided affair. Federer had to settle for a silver medal having been denied a Career Golden Slam, a feat only 2 men in the history of tennis have been able to accomplish (Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal). This was also the first time Murray defeated Federer in a best of 5 set format after losing three Grand Slam finals to the Swiss.

2013 Australian Open semifinal

the 2013 Australian Open Semi-Final match up was the first time Murray got the better of Federer at a Grand Slam. The match was a 4-hour, five set epic. Murray won the first set in 45 minutes, however Federer responded by taking the second set in a tie-break. Murray misjudged a smash at 5–5 in the tie-break which proved crucial as Federer hit a back hand winner from the error. The 3rd set however was fairly routine for Murray, winning it in 36 minutes. Federer again hit back in a 4th set tie-break in winning the set. The final set was dominated impressively by Murray, breaking Federer for a second time to secure the set and the match to reach his 6th Grand Slam final and 3rd consecutive final.

2014 Australian Open quarterfinal

One year on from their semi-final encounter at the Australian Open, the two faced off again, this time one round earlier at the quarter-final stage. Federer came into the Australian open rejuvenated, having had a poor 2013 season, he hired former six time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edberg as his new coach and switched to a new racket, and hadn't dropped a set in the tournament leading into the match with Murray. Murray came into the tournament having had a 3-month layoff after undergoing back surgery making predictions for this match-up very difficult. Federer raced to a two sets lead, with some impressive serving, he continued this trend in the 3rd set breaking Murray and serving for the match. However, Murray picked up his game and broke Federer for the first time as he was serving for the match. The set then went to a tie-break and Federer had two match points but remarkably Murray saved both and won the next 4 points to take the set. In the 4th set Murray was starting to struggle physically, this was by a considerable margin, his most testing match since returning from surgery. Despite holding his serve at and staving off six break points in a mammoth 19 minute game, Murray eventually succumbed to Federer's pressure and the Swiss won the set and the match in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

2014 ATP World Tour Finals round robin

Having won the previous two encounters between himself and the Brit, Federer needed to win this match in order to finally gain his head to head advantage over Murray for the first time since 2005. Murray also needed to win this match in straight sets in order to be able to progress to the semi-final stage of the tournament. However the Brit was in for a hard time as Federer was in no mood to give Murray any chance of winning. Murray was two points away from a double bagel but managed to hold serve. Federer won the next game and handed Murray his worst loss since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open. With this win, Federer became the first man to score a 6–0 set on all of his big four rivals.

2015 Wimbledon semifinal

Federer and Murray met at the semifinal stage in the 2015 Wimbledon Championships. Murray went into the match as a slight favourite with most pundits due to his superior form during the year and his age advantage. However, Federer produced a masterclass performance that rolled back the years, and won in straight sets. Federer served extremely well, hitting over 75% of his first serves in and hitting 20 aces. Many judged his performance to be one of the best of his career, defying the suggestion that his best years were behind him. This extended his head to head lead over Murray (13–11) and it was the first time in the rivalry that Federer had registered 4 consecutive wins.

Singles

Federer—Murray (14–11)

Doubles

Federer–Murray (1–0)

Head-to-head tallies

Results on each court surface

Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic Games

Career evolution

Federer and Murray were born about six years apart. Federer's birthday is August 8, 1981, while Murray's is May 15, 1987. A different viewpoint of their career evolution is offered by taking the season they entered with an age of 17 as starting point. For instance in 2004, Federer started the season being 22 years old; at the end of that season, he accumulated a career record of four Grand Slam titles, a total of 22 singles titles and his final ranking was No. 1 at 23 years old.

Combined singles performance timeline (best result)

¹ Held as Hamburg Masters (outdoor clay) until 2008, Madrid Masters (outdoor clay) 2009–present.
² Held as Stuttgart Masters (indoor hard) until 2001, Madrid Masters (indoor hard) from 2002–08, and Shanghai Masters (outdoor hard) 2009–present.