MURRAY WINS – BERCY FIRST STORY FROM RICHARD EVANS, PARIS

Written by: Staff on 29th October 2014

BNP Paribas 2014 Masters Tennis Tournament

MURRAY WINS – BERCY FIRST STORY FROM RICHARD EVANS, PARIS

epa04468543 Andy Murray of Britain serves the ball to Julien Benneteau of France during their second round match at the BNP Paribas 2014 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 29 October 2014. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

“I felt fine,” said Andy Murray, having dispatched Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4 as if it was perfectly normal to be playing one’s sixth consecutive tournament in six straight weeks.

But what Murray has achieved during that barnstorming run that has made him all but certain of a place amongst the top eight at the ATP Finals in London is anything but normal.

In those six weeks, he has won titles in Shenzhen, China; Vienna, Austria and Valencia, Spain and reached the semi-final or fourth round in two other Chinese cities, Beijing and Shanghai. Some 15,000 miles separate all those locations which means that what little time Murray had to recover in between matches was frequently spent getting through airports. Not a rest cure.

In press conference, he was asked how he had managed it. Was it luck; hard work, meeting the right guys?

Andy Murray of Britain celebrates his victory against Spanish David Ferrer during their Valencia Open 500 semifinal match played at the Agora tennis court in Valencia, Spain, 25 October 2014. EPA/KAI FOERSTERLING

“Definitely wasn’t luck,” Murray shot back. “I put in a lot of hard work the last few weeks, played a lot of tough, long matches. If I get to London I deserve to be there.”

No one can argue with that statement. Murray went on to explain why he thinks his performances in the Grand Slams this year also played a huge part in his qualifying for London. “In all the Slams I reached the quarter finals or better,” he said. “So in the case of the French Open only two guys did better than me and only four in the other Slams. I have won more matches than most guys in the Slams. Roger and Novak might be the only ones to have won more.”

Murray has facts at his finger tips. Not only about his own matches but about most players on the tour. If there’s a British player involved, he’ll watch him play in a Challenger. He’s a fan.

He is also a remarkable athlete who is only now getting back to the kind of top notch fitness that he enjoyed before a nagging back problem forced him to have surgery thirteen months ago.

If he does make London – and a win over Grigor Dmitrov here on Thursday will clinch it – he will go into the tournament as one of the favorites. He will be able to take some real time off next week and walk out in front of 17,500 people at the amazing 02 Arena bolstered by the knowledge that these past six weeks have seen him play as well as anyone on the tour and far better than most.

There is nothing like winning to boost one’s confidence, especially after his extraordinary wins against Tommy Robredo in the finals of Shenzhen and Valencia when he needed to save 5 match points in both matches. After performances like that you really believe in yourself.

Roger Federer has been the other eye-catching performer on the ATP tour in recent weeks and, amazingly for a man who was being written off a year ago, he has the chance to return to No 1 in the world if Novak Djokovic doesn’t retain the title in London.

He will, however, have to play better than he did today against the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy who had already taken two sets off him in the two previous matches they had played this year and proceded to do so again when the Swiss lost control of the second set tie break.

Nevertheless, Federer was in control again in the third set and advanced with a 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 victory, stretching his unbeaten run to 13 matches following his title winning performances in Shanghai and Basel.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Jeremy Chardy of France during his second round match at the BNP Paribas 2014 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 29 October 2014. EPA/IAN LANGSDON

“Winning the first set calmed me a bit,” Federer said in French after his victory over Chardy. “I was expecting a tough match against him after our matches earlier in the year but I served well which was a surprise for me this early in the tournament.”

Federer admitted that he had not made a final decision to play here in Paris until after his victory in Shanghai. “It was all about knowing how long my season was going to be with the Davis Cup final coming after the ATP Finals,” he explained. “I wanted to spend a little time on clay because that’s what we will be playing on in Lille and I needed to fit that in, which I have done.”

Belgium’s David Goffin is another player who has been catching the eye since he started winning Challengers as well as ATP tour titles after Wimbledon but he found David Ferrer too tough in the home stretch, fading in the final set to lose 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. The win keeps Ferrer in the hunt for those hotly-disputed final four spots in London.

The big Canadian, Milos Raonic, is another contender and he scored a vital victory by 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 over Jack Sock, one of the most improved players on the tour. Sock’s ranking has shot up since the French Open – he is now at a career high of 44 – but this was a day he will prefer to forget after he and Vasek Pospisil crashed out of the doubles to Leander Paes and Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4, thus ruining their chance of making the ATP Finals doubles event.

Milos Raonic of Canada in action against Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania during their second round match at the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow, Russia, 16 October 2014. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

“Forgetting today, it’s been a great year for me,” Sock told me afterwards. “I have been growing in confidence after getting to the semis at Newport and Atlanta in the summer and I think the move to Tampa from Los Angeles has also been a big factor. Being able to train on a regular basis with guys like John Isner has been great for my game.”

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Julien Benneteau, milos raonic, Paris, Richard Evans, Roger Federer, Tennis

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October 29, 2014 at 2:38 pm

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