ROGERS CUP FINAL Murray delighted to be hitting top form
Venue: Rexall Centre, York University, Toronto Date: Sunday, 15 August Start: 1830 BST Coverage: Commentary and live text on BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra
Andy Murray is brimming with confidence despite Roger Federer standing in the way of the Scot winning his first title of the season on Sunday in Toronto.
Defending champion Murray has improved steadily throughout the Rogers Cup and beat world number one Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-4 in the semi-finals on Friday.
"To beat Rafa in the first big hard court tournament is huge for the confidence," said the Scot.
"If I play my best like I did [against Nadal] I have a very good chance."
Murray has a winning record against Federer, 29, but the former world number one is a 16-time Grand Slam champion and has won the past three matches between the two.
The Swiss reached the decider with a 6-1 3-6 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic to ensure he will replace the Serb as the world number two.
Federer, playing in his first tournament since his shock Wimbledon quarter-final defeat by Tomas Berdych in June, has not been wholly convincing this week and has been forced to scrap for all of his victories.
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 Rarely do I go to a finals and play a shocker
World number three Roger Federer
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Juan Ignacio Chela and Michael Llodra both took him to first-set tie-breaks and in the last eight he was taken to a deciding set by Berdych before winning it on a tie-break.
Djokovic also forced a deciding set, which Federer won 7-5, but despite his less than stellar form Federer is keenly aware of his pedigree in finals.
"Once I make it to the finals I know where my game's at," said Federer, who is going for his third Canadian victory and his second title of, by his standards, a below-par season in which he beat Murray to win the Australian Open title but suffered shock defeats at the French Open and SW19.
"I win more finals than I lose. Rarely do I go to a finals and play a shocker. But it's not the same playing a guy ranked 40 in the world and a guy number four [Murray] who comes off a win beating Rafa.
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"We all know how hard it is to beat Rafa and me, but it's been done in the past and that's why I have to be careful."
Murray has won six of the pair's 11 matches but the last of the Scot's victories was at Indian Wells in March 2009 and Federer has been victorious in their last three matches.
However, since dispensing with the services of coach Miles Maclagan last month Murray appears to be playing with greater abandon and more aggression.
"I want to enjoy playing my game and expressing myself out on court," Murray said after his defeat of Nadal.
Murray began the tournament with a relatively comfortable 7-5 6-2 win over Belgian Xavier Malisse before recovering from a second-set whitewash to beat Gael Monfils 6-2 0-6 6-3 in the last 16.
The 23-year-old then brushed aside the challenge of David Nalbandian - his first win over the Argentine - before producing some of his best tennis of the year to beat Nadal and gain a measure of revenge for his straight-sets semi-final loss at this summer's Wimbledon.
He will probably need a repeat of that performance if he is to beat Federer on Sunday and give himself the perfect boost going into the US Open, which starts on 30 August.
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