Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, London
Round Robin, Day 5: [CR2] Roger Federer (SUI) vs. [CR6] Andy Murray (GBR)
It was all on the line for Murray in this match, win in straight sets and he would be in the semifinals. Could he conquer his doubts and focus on playing quality tennis? Murray has a tendency to get down on himself, which results in a loss of focus and playing poorly. After he was pommelled in the first set, he immediately regressed to his negative attitude. Although Federer wobbled a little in his first service game, he quickly regrouped and never hesitated. He served well, had crisp forehands and used the drop shot effectively against Murray.
Murray served poorly, his groundstrokes had no pace and he made too many unforced errors. Federer showed no mercy and feeling confident, he kept the pressure on. There were a few exciting points in the fourth game of the second set and Murray fought valiantly to win the sixth game; however, Federer simply was at his best and Murray at his worst. It was a thorough beating by Federer and Murray will have to spend his off-season questioning his commitment. This is an elite tournament, to make the cut and not give 100% reflects poorly on Murray. Federer won 6-0, 6-1; he wins his group and goes on to another year-end semifinals.
I understand about the lack of focus, confidence and determination but not at this level. Murray is not a rookie. He’s been here before. I have never seen a professional play so badly as he did today. Yes, Fed kept the pressure on; but I’m not so sure that it was Fed playing all that well as it was Murray playing that badly. I almost wanted to ask was there something wrong with him physically. Obviously there was something wrong with him mentally. How about his coach? It’s unfortunate that he dismissed Lendl. Maybe it’s time for another change. Yes, nerves get to everyone but eventually they settle down and find their rhythm and win at least a few games, if not the tourney. Murray simply failed to do anything which led to his unfortunate shellacking.
Did Murray simply run out of gas? He worked hard to get his ranking back up and maybe that took a physical/mental toll. The trouncing that we saw was him being too tired to mount any resistance against a quality player like Federer. Yes, Federer was sharp but maybe his skills were magnified because Murray played so poorly. At this level, it was an embarrassing effort from Murray. How much of this is the coach and how much of this is Murray?