After an absorbing contest full of breathtaking shots, Andy Murray emerged the winner against Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-2. This summer these two have been among the top 10 players on hardcourt and it was not difficult to see why as they produced a match packed full of tennis of the very highest quality; astonishing hitting, imaginative game plans, courageous shot selection, even brutal racket smashing.

Both camps had clearly given much thought to the match, coming up with clever variations of play to counter the threat posed by their opponent. Murray opted for a relatively high first serve percentage, prepared to cut the pace of his delivery, but willing to be aggressive on his initial groundstroke, making space to hit numerous forehand winners with Gonzalez struggling to get back in position after the return. On second Murray was bold, willing to vary his serve, often going wide or straight down the middle on key points. For his part Gonzalez forced Murray wide on the return, creating space for the easy winner, he used the inside-out forehand then came into the net to volley as Murray was forced on the defensive out of position on the court.

Murray started the match nervously, twice he double faulted when breakpoint down, attempting to outwit Gonzalez down the middle as the Chilean made room for a huge forehand return. But each time Murray recovered the break with help from Gonzalez's errors. By the time the score had reached 4-3 both players had warmed up and it was winners galore as Murray created chance after chance to break, only to see Gonzalez deny him, before finally he found a pass that was just too good for Fernando who netted a difficult half-volley on the backhand side. Four first serves later Andy had taken the opening set 6-3.

The second set saw serve dominate, the first breakpoint opportunity came with Murray serving at 3-4 as a slight drop in his level coincided with an inspired spell from the Chilean who broke to 15 with a superb forehand winner swerving back into court before it landed. Fernando had little trouble serving out a set in which he had achieved 84% of first serves in play.

Throughout the second and third sets Gonzalez sustained an astonishingly high level; Murray, one of the top five returners in the game, could barely manage to return the serve nevermind create opportunities to break. Fernando sliced first serves so wide on the deuce court that Andy was practically shaking hands with spectactors in the front row as he tried to return serve. Mix in fiercely struck aces down the middle, and a forehand on top form, and Gonzalez was near invincible on serve. On return Fernando was ultra aggressive, threatening second serves with fiercesome forehand returns for outright winners. Not surprisingly Andy struggled, he missed a few too many first serves and lost serve a couple of times as Gonzalez took the third set 6-2.

Into the fourth a similar pattern to the second set developed with a run of easy holds up to 4-3. Murray went for more on the return and was rewarded with his first break point chance for over an hour. Gonzalez saved that but when a second opportunity arrived Murray was aggressive and the break was his. A double fault made it 30-30 only for Andy to fire a double-handed backhand down the line for set point that he took to even the match.

Come the start of the fifth set it soon became evident that Gonzalez was struggling to cope with the fact that Murray was still on court competing, when the Chilean's exceptional tennis would have beaten most players by now. In a reversal of roles it was Murray who was on top form firing 13 winners to just 3 unforced errors in the final set. In contrast Gonzalez struggled to land many of his aggressive forehands, first serves missed their target and aggressive returns of second serves crashed into the middle of the net as he went 4-0 down. His racquet got the full treatment after missing a straightforward forehand, a code violation came his way for whacking yet another ball out of court, bizarrely after a point he had won. But he still managed to save three match points on his own serve, striking winners off the forehand, backhand and a winning volley, before Murray came up with four first serves to clinch the match.

On this form Murray is a seriously good player, and so too is Gonzalez, who probably still can't believe he lost a match in which he served so superbly.