It’s hard to believe, but Fred Perry, the last British tennis player to win the Australian championship, did not take up the game until he was 18 years of age.

Scotland’s Andy Murray, who will attempt to emulate Perry today by beating three-time champion Roger Federer in the Australian Open final, had his first games of tennis aged three.

Perry switched to tennis only after winning a world table tennis championship in 1929. He adapted some of his table tennis technique to lawn tennis, and also had a famous running forehand. He won Wimbledon three times (1934-1936), the US title three times (1933, 1934, 1936), the Australian title in 1934, and the French title in 1935.

He was the first player to win all four Grand Slam titles, though not all in the same year. The Grand Slam itself was a somewhat vague and little-known concept until Don Budge achieved a calendar-year sweep of all four majors in 1938.

Now, a statue of Perry stands in the Wimbledon grounds. He died in Melbourne in February 1995, eight years after Murray’s birth. He had attended the Australian Open and suffered a bad fall in his hotel bathroom.

There are few similarities in the lives of Perry and Murray. Perry was the handsome son of a Labour MP in the north of England. His working-class background did not fit comfortably in the snobbish middle-class world of English tennis. And later, some people never forgave him for spending the war years (in the 1940s) in America.

Murray’s father is a businessman, his mother a former Scottish tennis champion and national tennis coach. Murray was born at Dunblane, Scotland, and, as a little boy, survived an infamous massacre when a deranged man invaded his school and sprayed bullets at random.

Like Perry, Murray was once torn between two sports. He was a promising young soccer player, and could have been put under contract by Glasgow Rangers. He loved tennis, however, and at 15 was sent, at his own instigation, to live at Barcelona, mainly to consolidate his developing game on clay courts. He says that clay remains his preferred surface.

With his mother’s guidance and help from other smart people, the lanky Scot has matured rapidly in a few short years and, at 22, looks likely to have a growing impact on tennis. He plays a more cerebral game than the dashing Perry, but possesses just as much will to win.

So far he has gathered 14 titles, with a runner-up finish behind Federer at the 2008 US Open, and a semi-final loss to Andy Roddick at the 2009 Wimbledon the highlights of his burgeoning Grand Slam career.

Trengove’s Fearless Forecasts

Federer (1) v Murray (5)
Ominously for the number one, Murray leads their head-to-head rivalry by six matches to four. Federer won the last two matches but, even so, Murray should draw confidence from his memories. The only major in the list is the 2008 US Open, when a weary Murray could not do justice to his ability. He is much fitter now, although his tentative and edgy start against Cilic in the semi-finals suggests he may still be vulnerable. It is almost impossible to tip against a clearly relaxed and confident Federer after his brilliant victory over Tsonga, but Tsonga and Murray have entirely different styles, however, and the Frenchman looked worn out from his unfamiliar five-setters. To sum up, Federer again looks the complete package and appears to be ready to reclaim former territory, while Murray has a couple of loose ends to tighten up.
Federer in five.

Alan Trengove has covered more than 130 Grand Slam tournaments dating back to 1953, and is the author of numerous tennis books.