ATP World Tour Finals Day 3 - Murray Keeps Hopes Alive

On Sunday it looked like Andy Murray’s busy schedule to reach the ATP World Tour finals had finally caught up with him, two days and a victory later he appears a man reformed.

After a disappointing defeat to Kei Nishikori in his opening group B match, Murray simply had to beat Canadian Milos Raonic to stand a chance of reaching Saturday's semi final, thankfully for the home fans the Brit delivered and still has a chance of qualifying from the group when he faces Roger Federer on Thursday.   

Relief for Murray after his crucial victory

With the permutations still up in the air Murray’s potential route to the last four remains unclear There is a scenario where Murray could beat the Swiss maestro and not qualify, likewise there is one where he could lose his final match and still progress depending on the result between Raonic and Nishikori. That however is a job for a mathematician, Murray can only let his tennis do the talking and that’s exactly what he did.

He cut out the unforced errors, dominated from the baseline and ultimately wrapped up the match in straight sets with a 6-3 7-5 victory which lasted 1 hour 31 minutes.

At times Raonic was his own worst ememy as a number of errors contributed to the Canadian’s downfall, nevertheless that shouldn’t be counted against Murray who was timing the ball much better than he had done against Nishikori and produced an all-round neater display.


Lets not forget Murray arrives in London in good form with titles from Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia. His attacks were measured and precise as he soaked up the Raonic pressure, his serve rarely faltered, perhaps the most important aspect of this performance is that his hunger for success is still be burning strong.

     

In his pre-match press conference Raonic gave the impression of a nervous character and just like in his match against Federer the Canadian was vulnerable in the early stages. His monstrous first serve may be a real asset when it’s on song however when its only dwindling around the 30% mark it can quickly backfire.

Two break points came and went for Murray in the fourth game; nevertheless he regrouped two games later, reapplied the pressure and Raonic quickly buckled.

Murray broke to lead 4-2 and unlike in his previous match cemented with a comfortable hold. He closed out a tidy and efficient set by 6 games to 3, receiving a roaring ovation from the 02 crowd in the process.

The Brit then appeared to have struck the killer blow when he broke Raonic again to lead 2-1 in the second however in the next game his serve let up for the first time and the Canadian punished him to draw level.

At 5-5 Murray pounced again, digging two spectacular backhands out of his immense armoury which allowed him to serve for the match. Raonic threatened to spoil an almost perfect victory however Murray was able to close out proceeding and get his tournament back on track.

 

 

ATP World Tour Finals Days 1 and 2 - Wawrikna And Djokovic Set The Standard

Only the top eight players in the world are accepted in the season ending ATP world tour finals, however yesterday’s action felt more like the opening week of a Grand Slam rather than a showdown between the very best.

Djokovic made light work of Cilic in the second match of the day

It took less than an hour for both Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic to claim their opening victories in a ruthless fashion, the two opening matches from Group B didn’t exactly support the argument that strength in depth in the men’s game is stronger than ever, not that the two victors will care their tennis alone should be enough of an attraction. 

Wawrinka, this year’s Australian Open champion, spent less than an hour on court as he brushed aside Czech Tomas Berdych 6-1 6-1. That was followed by an equally impressive performance from the world number one Djokovic who dismissed US Open champion Marin Cilic by the same score line.

Some will no doubt point to the slow indoor courts which are supposed to favour the better movers and hinder the big servers. Of course that will be no consolation to either Berdych or Cilic; both were well and truly outplayed and can have few excuses.

Nevertheless, the beauty of this particular tennis event is the unique format which splits the eight top players into two groups of four, before the top two from each progress.

That means despite their early defeats Berdych and Cilic can still qualify, as can home favourite Andy Murray who lost his opening Group A match in straight sets falling 6-4 6-4 to Kei Nishikori in Sunday’s opener. 

Even so the British number one must surely have to beat Canada’s Milos Raonic in tonight’s second match to stand any sort of realistic chance. Like Murray, Raonic failed to take a set in his opening match, losing 6-1 7-6(0) to a potent looking Roger Federer.

Murray can take some positives from the 6ft5 Canadian’s nervy start against Federer, which clearly cost him on his first appearance at this event. However in previous meetings its Raonic who leads by three matches to one and will no doubt be a dangerous opponent.

In today’s other match Federer will go up against Nishikori, where the winner will take a huge step towards booking their place in one of Sunday’s semi-finals, with Federer looking for an unprecedented 7th title at the end of season championships.