Under the increasing demand for more accurate high-performance motion systems, various friction models appropriate for control purpose of mechanical systems have been proposed. Most of these friction models formulate a heuristic dynamical model based on a few observed typical friction properties (e.g. a Stribeck curve for constant velocities and a hysteresis behaviour in presliding regime). This paper presents a novel friction model, called the generalized Maxwell-slip (GMS) model, appropriate for control purpose, based on a physically motivated friction model, i.e. a generic friction model which simulates the contact physics at asperity level. This paper compares the GMS model with some well-known existing models and shows that the novel model is capable of predicting accurately not only the presliding regime and Stribeck effect, but also friction lag, transition behavior, break-away force and the non-drifting ('stiction') property.