RICKY DIMON IS MAKING HIS PICKS FOR ALL THE MATCH UPS AT THE BARCLAYS YEAR END TENNIS FINALS. HERE’S HOW ANDY MURRAY STACKS UP. MURRAY TAKING THE COURT IN LONDON BEFORE DAVIS CUP FINAL IN BELGIUM

Written by: on 13th November 2015
RICKY DIMON IS MAKING HIS PICKS FOR ALL THE MATCH UPS AT THE BARCLAYS YEAR END TENNIS FINALS. HERE'S HOW ANDY MURRAY STACKS UP. MURRAY TAKING THE COURT IN LONDON BEFORE DAVIS CUP FINAL IN BELGIUM  |

In the week leading up to the Barclay ATP World Tour Finals, 10sballs.com‘s Ricky Dimon will profile every one of the eight singles qualifiers, starting with No. 8 and culminating with No. 1. Up next is second-ranked Andy Murray, for whom the year-end championship is not the last event of the season. Murray will also lead Great Britain into the 2015 Davis Cup final in Belgium.

 

Season in review: For the first time since 2009, Murray was an absolute force at the Masters 1000 level. He captured titles in Madrid and Montreal to go along with runner-up performances in Miami and Paris. Having also reached semifinals in Indian Wells, Cincinnati, and Shanghai, Murray was an awesome 30-5 overall in eight Masters tournaments.

 

By his recent standards, the world No. 2 disappointed at Grand Slams. He tested Novak Djokovic in both the Australian Open and French Open semifinals only to fade drastically near the finish line. Murray ran into a red-hot Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semis before getting upset by Kevin Anderson in round four of the U.S. Open. Still, there is one chance left for the Scot to snag a career-changing title. He has Great Britain in the Davis Cup final, which will be played later this month on the clay courts of Belgium.

2015 record: 68-12

Fall record (post-U.S. Open): 9-2

 

Best tournament: Montreal title

d. Tommy Robredo 6-4, 7-5

d. Gilles Muller 6-3, 6-2

d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-4

d. Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-0

d. Novak Djokovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

 

Biggest win at different tournament: d. Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in Madrid final

 

World Tour Finals appearances: 6

World Tour Finals record: 10-9

Best World Tour Finals result: Semifinals (2008, 2010, 2012)

 

Record against other World Tour Finals qualifiers: 57-69

vs. Novak Djokovic: 9-21

vs. Roger Federer: 11-14

vs. Stan Wawrinka: 8-6*

vs. Rafael Nadal: 6-15*

vs. Tomas Berdych: 7-6

vs. David Ferrer: 11-6*

vs. Kei Nishikori: 5-1

* denotes player is in the same group

 

Quotable: “I’ve tried to juggle the two (the World Tour Finals and the Davis Cup final) so that I don’t have to miss (the World Tour Finals) but also give myself a good chance of playing well in the Davis Cup. It’s important (that) I’m not too hard on myself and don’t just expect to play great tennis at the start at the 02 as soon as I switch back to hard courts. I need to respect what the change to the clay can do to my body and also what it can do to your game, because it’s a completely different movement.”

 

Outlook: Few accolades are missing from Murray’s impressive career resume. Among them are a No. 1 ranking at any time, a World Tour Finals title, and a Davis Cup trophy. Two are still within reach in 2015. Only one truly piques Murray’s interest–and it’s certainly not the event that is about to transpire at the O2. The two-time major champion at first threatened to skip the year-end championship before deciding to play. But he has made no secret that his priority is the Davis Cup final and he spent the week in between Paris and London practicing on clay–not on an indoor hard court.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.