Mighty Fed mauls Murray
Mighty Fed mauls Murray
By Chris Bailey
In what was possibly the most eagerly anticipated match of the week in the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Roger Federer produced a master class to sweep aside Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2.
In a match that promised so much, Murray struggled to find his feet from the off with Federer forcing a break point in the very first game. Despite going on to hold on that occasion, the Scot never looked comfortable, succumbing to a break in just his second service game. In contrast, Federer was barely troubled, losing just three points on his own serve in the first set.
With Federer looking to serve out the set at 5-4, Murray rallied, with a superb forehand bringing up 0-
30, but as he so often does, the world No. 2 found the right shots at the right time and fought back to hold for the set.
The flashes of brilliance from Murray proved to be few and far between as the Swiss raced to a 4-0 lead
in the second and, despite fighting back from 15-40 in the fifth game to hold, the writing looked to be
on the wall for the world No. 5. Federer’s dominance on serve continued, as he saw off Murray in just over an hour and a quarter.
The statistics told their own story: Murray committing 26 unforced errors to his opponent’s 10 and the Scot failing to produce a single break point.
While Murray’s performance was undoubtedly poor, it may be fairer to point to the brilliance of Federer as the decisive factor.
“He’s beat me the last two times in two big finals in Shanghai and Toronto so I knew I had my hands full
today. I’m surprised how clean the result was,” Federer told Sky Sports.
Murray’s lacklustre display was also something that took the Swiss by surprise, as he explained: “It’s a bit strange, Andy’s a good returner, one of the best we have in the game. I’m quite surprised it went as well as it did today. I’m almost a bit shocked, to be honest, but obviously I’m very happy.”
Despite what should have been a home crowd for Murray, the packed O2 arena was certainly equally behind both players but Murray cannot have been naive enough to dismiss Federer’s immense popularity, particularly in London. It’s a level of local support that Federer certainly appreciates.
“You guys have always been great to me at Wimbledon and it’s always a pleasure for me to come to London and play tennis,” Federer said, “it’s really where I’ve played some of the best tennis of my life, so I appreciate your support.”
The result sees Federer take control of Group B, with Murray now needing to regroup before he takes on David Ferrer in a must-win encounter on Thursday.
Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Break Point, Brilliance, Chris Bailey, Decisive Factor, Dominance, Fifth Game, First Game, Forehand, Home Crowd, Lacklustre, Mauls, Returner, Right Time, Roger Federer, Scot, Service Game, Sky Sports, Unforced Errors
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