Andy Murray took a page from his coach, Ivan Lendl, crushing a shot directly at Roger Federer's head during a crucial moment in the first set of their Wimbledon final.

Federer ducked, lost the point and then dropped the next one to go down 5-4 in the first set. Murray took the opening set on his next service game.

[Related: For the first time in history, Wimbledon final finishes indoors]

His shot was legal, great strategy and an authoritative statement to make early in a match. The metaphor that's sure to be written: Murray goes at Federer's head to show that Federer isn't in his.

In terms of tennis etiquette, it was thuggish. There are dozens of opportunities for players to hit directly at opponents in tennis matches and, invariably, they make the choice not to do so, sometimes to their own detriment. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. That's not to say Murray intentionally tried to decapitate Federer, just that he didn't not try either.

Murray, who hit Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the groin during Friday's semifinal, could have watched tapes of his current coach for tips on how not to avoid opponents coming to the net. Lendl was notorious for doing the same thing:

Here's another angle of Murray's shot:

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:

• Roger Federer beats Andy Murray for seventh Wimbledon men's singles title

• Serena Williams wins fifth Wimbledon women's singles title and 14th Grand Slam

• Bryce Harper makes All-Star team in place of injured Giancarlo Stanton