Murray was in imperious form on the Canadian hardcourts, sweeping aside world No. 1 Rafa Nadal and Federer to claim his first tournament victory of the season.
The 23-year-old Scot becomes just the fifth player to beat Nadal and Federer in the same event and becomes the first man to win back-to-back Canadian hardcourt titles since Andre Agassi in 1995.
"Winning a tournament is always great, but it's the first time I beat Roger and Rafa in the same tournament, which is probably the most pleasing thing," Murray told reporters. "And I didn't drop a set against either of them.
"It's very satisfying. I mean, it doesn't happen that often for anyone.
"It's the first time I've done it ... I don't think I've ever beaten Roger in straight sets before.
"It's just good for the confidence, very satisfying, and hopefully I can keep it up." The match began under threatening skies and just as the players finished posing for pre-match pictures, rain began to fall causing a 15-minute delay to the start.
With Federer back on court after two punishing three-set matches, including his late night semifinal over Novak Djokovic on Saturday, Murray went on the attack breaking the sluggish Swiss to open the match.
The world No. 4 continued to pound away at a defenseless Federer, breaking him again to surge to a 3-0 lead before the 16-times grand slam winner finally hit back with a break and hold to get back into the set 3-2.
By the time Murray was serving for the first set, the Swiss master started to find his rhythm and broke the Scot a second time to level at 5-5.
But Murray appeared unfazed by the hiccup and immediately broke back before holding serve to clinch the first set.
Murray and Federer then spent more time battling the conditions than each other with rain interrupting play three times in the second set.
With skies clearing, Murray claimed the decisive break at 6-5 then clinched victory when Federer sent a return long.
Despite the loss, Federer, who will move back up to number two in the rankings on Monday, was also pleased with his play in his first event since a crushing quarterfinal loss at Wimbledon.
"Today was another tough match physically with the breaks, coming back, the breaks, coming back and with all the physical strain I had to go through this week," said Federer, a two-time winner at this tournament.
"It was just kind of a touch disappointing but I thought Andy played well.
"He was aggressive. He wasn't giving me much and he clutch served at the very end when he had to and he deserved the victory."
Murray has long favoured hardcourts and all four of his victories in 12 meetings with Spaniard Nadal have come on the surface.
All of his wins over Federer have also come on hardcourts and the victory in Toronto left him with a 7-5 winning record over the Swiss master.
The numbers may give Murray hope of ending Britain’s long wait for a men’s grand slam champion in the lead-up to Flushing Meadows, but the Scot has enjoyed similar strong form in the past only to crash out in the high-stakes matches.
Murray roared into the final of this year’s Australian Open only to be humbled in straight sets to Federer, who was also his master in the final of the 2008 U.S. Open.
Murray was optimistic, albeit cautiously so, about his chances at Flushing Meadows.
“I know things can change in a very short space of time but obviously I feel good after this week,” said Murray, who split with his long-time coach Miles Maclagan just three weeks ago.
“(The US Open has) always been a tournament I love playing, so hopefully I can do well there … I want to win (a grand slam) … I believe I’m good enough to but it’s a very, very difficult thing to do.
“It’s a tough era but it’s also something that is exciting and challenging, and that’s why I think if you can do it, it makes it a much, much greater achievement.
