Andy Murray made comfortable progress to the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 arena, defeating David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday night to set up a potential last four meeting with Rafael Nadal.
After a sub-par display against Roger Federer on Tuesday, Murray musthave been eager to make a positive start but it wasn’t to be as Ferrer raced out of the traps, breaking the Scot to take a 2-0 lead.
Murray, however, soon settled into his rhythm breaking back immediately on his way to winning six consecutive games to win the first set and seal his place in the semis alongside Federer, who had wrapped up Group B earlier in the day.
Six became seven at the start of the second set, with Murray breaking once more and continuing to attack the Spaniard’s serve with all the aggression and confidence that he had lacked on Tuesday.
Ferrer also had a chance of making the semi-finals with a win and he continued to battle. He broke Murray’s serve to love in the very next game. A couple of service holds followed, before Murray got a moment of luck on his third break point at 2-2, when the ball bouncedup off the net cord to leave Ferrer stranded.
The Spaniard then squandered two break points of his own in the following game as Murray marched on to claim five straight games to sew up the match.
“I was a little nervous,” Murray said of his slow start. “I knew before I went on that I needed to win one set and David needed to win comfortably so it was quite a strange position to be in. He started off a lot better but I returned well to get myself back into it.”
Murray will also overtake Robin Soderling to reclaim number four spot in the world rankings as a result of this win. He will find out his semi-final opponent tomorrow as Group A concludesbut he knows that a meeting with the No. 1 Rafael Nadal is very much on the cards. “I’d like to play against Rafa, I always like playing against him and I’m sure it’d be a good match to watch,” said Murray
Federer storms into semis in London
Topics: 02 Arena, Aggression, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Atp World Tour, Barclays, Break Point, Break Points, Consecutive Games, David Ferrer, Day Six, Grand Slam, London, Match, Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling, Roger Federer, Scot, Semi Finals, Semis, Spaniard, Sport, Straight Games, Strange Position, Tennis Channel, Thursday Night, Wimbledon