BARCLAYS DAY ONE WRAPS WITH ROGER FEDERER & KEI NISHIKORI WINNING BY GLOBAL CHICK

Written by: Global Chick on 9th November 2014

Japan's Kei Nishikori returns to Britain's Andy Murray during his 2 set win over the Briton at the ATP World Tour Finals mens tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 09 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

epa04482819 Japan's Kei Nishikori returns to Britain's Andy Murray during his 2 set win over the Briton at the ATP World Tour Finals mens tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 09 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

The Final Showdown – Day 1 Round Up – Grey sums up the first round for Murray and Federer routs Raonic

It all started so relaxed with British No. 1 and home-crowd hero Andy Murray looking relaxed and posing for photographs with waiting fans at the quay where the players arrive by boat. There were rousing cheers, there was an early break – oh it was all going so well.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2014 started off with Murray taking on US Open finalist Kei Nishikori, and nerves afflicted the darling of the Cup Noodle in his native Japan as he sprayed balls long and wide, even perfecting the slumpy walk that Murray had once made his own.

But there was something about that break that made Nishikori suddenly knuckle down and buckle up, as he started to whip up the pace, leaving Murray resorting to the kind of frustrating passivity that makes people want to throw their hands in the air like Kermit in a frenzy.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori returns to Britain’s Andy Murray during his 2 set win over the Briton at the ATP World Tour Finals mens tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 09 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Britain’s Andy Murray returns during his 2 set loss to Japan’s Kei Nishikori at the ATP World Tour Finals mens tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 09 November 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN

The momentum carried Nishikori through to to a 3-0 lead and people around us were acting as though every unforced error was a dagger to their heart. They obviously haven’t experienced the hell that is the outgoing crowd, incoming evening crowd queues at the restaurant concessions.

Murray teased the crowd who were willing him to pull off another epic Robredo-esque three-setter (maybe without the gesture at the end of the match!), and with three games on the trot hopes were up. Even the over-the-top Break-Point, Ace and Set-point graphics were no longer an irritation (mainly because they were now all being applied against Nishikori).

But again, frustratingly no sooner than he had leveled the proceedings, he was on the wrong end of a 6-4 6-4 straight sets defeat.

He was suitably clinical with his assessment: “I didn’t serve well enough. He was able to dictate a lot of points, especially behind my second serve. Both of us struggled at the beginning of the match. The conditions, when you play with no one in there, it seemed like it was pretty full today. It’s obviously warmer, which then makes it quicker, the ball becomes a bit more lively.

“He definitely started playing better at the end of the first set and started feeling a bit more comfortable with those conditions.

Take nothing away from Nishikori – it was a nervy start at exciting times for this young man who has worked hard to take away the tags of the physical and perhaps mental fragility this year.

“The court is same as Paris, so I was little bit used to playing this surface. But the stadium is huge. You know, I try not to look up too much [and] try to stay focus. Maybe when I walk into the stadium, I was nervous, but same time I was really excited to play with this crowd. I was really happy that I played good tennis on this situation.

“I’m spending more time on the gym and also on the courts, too, you know, more practice during off‑season. Even when I’m on the tour, I try to do little bit of rehab and little bit of training. Maybe that’s one of the reason. I had couple injuries this year, you know, I had to retire couple matches, important matches. But I’ve been getting really strong, my body. Yeah, in US Open I played five sets. But I can able to finish seven matches first time, so I think I’m very strong physically.”

Murray now faces an uphill climb as he has to take on Milos Raonic, who was pretty comprehensively humbled by Roger Federer in the night match. The World No. 2 wrapped up the first set in 25 minutes before Raonic made a much better fist of it in the second set, not quite able to take his chances to sneak the second set. However the tie-break was another matter where the poor Canadian rookie was handed a lesson, for a 6-1 7-6(0) defeat.

Roger Federer poses for photographers with two awards, the ATP World Tour Sportsmanship Award and the ATP World Tour Fans? Favourite Award, after winning against Milos Raonic of Canada in the singles group B match at the men’s ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 09 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Raonic said, after the match: “It’s obviously disappointing, very disappointing actually, the way I finished that second set off. He was a lot more consistent on his return games. In Paris, okay, I’d get free points when I hit aces, but today the big difference was when he would get his racquet on the ball, he would make me play all the time. He was giving me some shots in Paris in that sense, some quicker points.

“I believe he played better today. I believe I started off not playing nearly as well, but I think I sort of found that Paris level that I had against him come the second set. I think that’s why I was able to create some opportunities for myself.”

Scheduled for Tuesday, Murray and Raonic will need to really lock in for a dogfight.

Murray said: “It’s harder to qualify when you lose your first match. But unlike the other events, you still have a chance to go through. If this were anywhere else, I would be out of the tournament. You need to try to forget about today, work on some things tomorrow, and hopefully play better on Tuesday.”

Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych will begin their campaigns in the day session, starting at 2pm, with Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic closing the night session at 8pm (GMT).

Topics: Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Barclays, global chick, Kei Nishikori, Roger Federer, Tennis News

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

November 9, 2014 at 6:55 pm

#BarclaysATPWorldTour DAY ONE WRAPS WITH @rogerfederer & @keinishikori WINNING BY GLOBAL CHICK- http://t.co/S5WEz0zUTD #tennis #Federer