The men’s singles gold medal match will be played on Sunday, August 5th at the All England Club. Roger Federer of Switzerland will face Andy Murray of the United Kingdom in what will be a rematch of their Wimbledon final from about one month ago.

Federer is into the final following a marathon match in the semifinals where he beat Juan Martin del Potro 3-6, 7-6, 17-15. Murray was much more efficient in his semifinal, dispatching of World No. 2 Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-5.

Djokovic and del Potro will meet in the bronze medal match with the loser going home without a medal from the 2012 London Olympics. That match is scheduled to start at noon (BST) with the gold medal match to follow.

Federer and Murray have met sixteen times in their careers and, when the overall records are looked at, there is nothing between the two players. They are each 8-8 against one another although it has to be pointed out that Federer has won their biggest matches.

Those big matches include the Wimbledon final from July as well as the 2010 Australian Open final and the 2008 US Open final. Murray’s biggest wins over Federer have come in Masters Series events such as Shanghai 2010 and Toronto 2010. Importantly, those Masters Series matches were best-of-three set matches while the gold medal match on Sunday will be a best-of-five set match.

Federer enters the final as the betting favorite with bet365 opening his odds at 4/7 (-175). Murray, the underdog, comes in at 7/5 (+140) with BetVictor.

Murray appears to be gaining in confidence and it should just be a matter of time before the Scot turns the tables on Federer when it comes to their big stage matches. However, whether Murray’s time will come on Sunday or whether Federer, nearly 31-years old, will make Murray wait longer is the question at hand.

Murray has been sharp at the Olympics and his chances for gold are redeemed by the fact that he should be fresher than Federer in the final. Not only is Murray more than five years younger than Federer but the Scot was not pushed to his physical limits in the semifinals.

Federer, on the other hand, worked incredibly hard to reach the gold medal match in London and if he and Murray go toe-to-toe for more than three and half hours, you have to wonder if the Scot will have more gas in the tank late in the match.

All things considered, I think that Murray should be considered a very mild favorite and that the London Olympics will be where he turns the corner and goes on to reach new horizons.