ATPWorldTour.com takes a look at the news and talking points at The Championships on Friday.

What The Papers Are Saying
Tim Henman, who is part of the BBC’s television commentary team, has backed Roger Federer to shatter the record of 14 Grand Slam championships he shares with American Pete Sampras. “I definitely think he’ll win several more slams. I just find it staggering how many times I read Federer is over the hill, that he is not going to win another major and that Rafael Nadal has his number. For me, you're talking about the best player that’s ever lived and he’s only 27. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he kicks on again. I don’t think there has ever been such a compete player. With Sampras, he had a great serve and he could dominate you with that. But his return game was never at the same level. The difference with Federer is his game is so complete that it didn't matter whether he was serving or returning, you just had to work incredibly hard for every point.”

The Daily Mirror reveals that the price of creating a Wimbledon champion has been put at £2.5million. “This includes the cost of ferrying children to lessons, summer camps and academies, and visiting them when training abroad. The sum was estimated by the Association of Accounting Technicians. The AAT said that while parents paid about £330 for an introductory camp, a year-long stint at a specialist training academy cost up to £34,000 on top of equipment and kit. But it could be worth it if your child is talented enough to go all the way on Centre Court.”

Ahead of Andy Murray’s semi-final against Andy Roddick, The Times listed a number of excuses workers could use to avoid being stuck in the office at the start of the pair’s match on Friday. One far-fetched excuse was “I’m sorry, I need to leave early to fly to America tonight. I've just received a phone call from the White House. Barack Obama wants me to have dinner with him tomorrow to mark 4th of July. Yes, I was surprised too. He's an old pen pal of mine. Never thought he'd do so well. So is it OK if I slip away about threeish?”

Headline Of The Day
‘Murray’s Dream Is Over’ writes The Independent, after the Scot failed to become the first British man in 71 years to reach The Championships final.

Quote Of The Day
Roger Federer, who will attempt to capture a record 15th Grand Slam championship title in The Championships final on Sunday, added his view on the ‘greatest player of all time’ debate after his semi-final win over Tommy Haas. “I always have had the most respect for all the generations in tennis. Technology has changed so much. Even tournaments have changed. [The] US Open used to be on clay and on grass, and now it’s on hard courts. It’s hard to judge the whole thing and I think that's what's also unique about our sport. I just try to have the best possible career I can and look back with obviously incredible memories.”

Match Of The Day
Sixth-seeded American Andy Roddick played arguably the finest grass-court match of his career to end third seed Andy Murray’s bid to lift The Championships title with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(5) victory on Friday. Roddick admitted, “I had to play my best tennis to win. I can’t say enough good things about Andy's game, but I can play some tennis sometimes. Not many people were giving me much of a chance, but I knew if I could stay the course, I had a chance. He had a lot of pressure on him, and I could come out and swing and I think that helped. He's been a much better player than I have over the last year — I was just a little bit better today.”

Murray Mania
In London, anyone could count themselves very fortunate to get a ticket for an Andy Murray match, but in the Scot’s hometown there was little sign of ‘Murraymania’ on Thursday reports The Daily Mail. “‘Come on Andy,’ a poster declared on the window of dry cleaners 'Fresh As A Daisy'. The local opticians had made an effort with a window dedicated to Murray. But they were family. 'R S Erskine & Co Ltd' is run by Uncle Niall, brother of Judy, mother, first coach and, dare one say, driving force. And that was about it. No flags, no bunting, nothing remotely like how a town might prepare for an FA Cup final [football] or even the Scottish Cup’s big day. Over the bridge in this central Scotland idyll, the Dunblane Bowling Club had hoisted their own ambiguous message: ‘Bowl Them Over Andy’. ‘It’s the Dunblane way,’ Helen Nairn, a receptionist at the opticians, said. ‘We’re very quiet and reserved. We don’t tend to go over the top.’ Fiona McMillan elaborated: ‘My brother says it is manic down in London. Not here. We are talking about it. We are pumped up but certainly not OTT [over the top].’”

Judy Murray, Andy’s mother, has been living with her son and his 21-year-old girlfriend Kim Sears during The Championships. “We actually have a lot of family around – his dad, his granny and grandpa, his uncles and aunts are all here - but they're not staying in the house,” Judy told the Evening Standard. “The best thing for him is that being in the house he doesn't have to worry about anything. Between Kim and I we can cover everything, eating-wise, washing-wise and the rest of it. You just keep on top of what needs to be done. He actually throws a lot of his stuff away to the crowd. I’ve said to him: ‘Be careful with the match shirts, you’ve only got about six new ones left.’”

A couple of fans, who watched Murray’s epic win over Stanislas Wawrinka, have written to the All England Club, demanding tickets for the final – for playing what they claim was a crucial role in that win. The letter states, “Our critical cheers were in the final set, 4-3, your advantage, on Stan’s serve. You seemed to be struggling a little bit, and at that point, you eyeballed us directly and appealed for us to cheer you on, which we instantly responded to, very vigorously (we were in row G, about 20 feet away from you, just under the international box). From that point on, you didn’t look back in the match! So we are claiming responsibility that it was your appeal to us, and our response to you with our cheering, that supported you in victory.  As we never do anything other than clap politely, we never expected to find ourselves cheering so vigorously at your request, so who knows what will come of this note to you? And it really was us who you appealed to directly for encouragement from, and we really did respond.”

John Flynn, the chief executive of Fred Perry, the cult fashion brand found by the last British men’s singles champion at The Championships, revealed to The Guardian, “Some of the staff want Andy to win a five-set final with Roger [Federer], but others want him to ‘just’ lose a five-set final because then Fred would still be the man.”

Simon Barnes, the chief sports writer of The Times, believes “the Scot has turned himself into a machine for victory; not one designed to garner affection at Wimbledon. He doesn't do charm. He shows no sign of even wanting to be loved.  Oh, he loves surfing the wave of partisan support on Centre Court, but that's different. It’s easy to cheer for Murray, less easy to find softer feelings for him. There is a sense in which Murray doesn’t represent us. That is probably true even if you are Scottish. Murray is playing an individual sport and is, quite rightly, using every scrap of his energy to try to win this tournament. He has no time for anything outside this. No interest. He is centred on himself. And if you don't like that, you can get stuffed.”

Murray has been immortalised in dough at his favourite pizza restaurant, writes The Daily Telegraph. “The life-sized sculpture stands in the foyer of the Pizza Express restaurant where the 22 year old recently persuaded staff to serve him a Margherita despite the kitchens being shut. The head-and-shoulders bust of Murray - complete with racquet - was designed by a local artist and created by the pizzeria’s staff in Wimbledon village, close to the venue of the All England Club. Weighing 20 kilos, it is packed with enough dough to make more than 100 of Andy's favourite pizzas, and took a fortnight to mould. Anton Gjoni, the manager, said: ‘It’s just a bit of fun. We didn't mind working the extra hours for him.’ The bust was made by Dane Swart and fellow chef Lua Stifani.”