TENNIS – Andy Murray recovered from a set down to win over David Ferrer in a crucial three-set match with 5-7 6-2 7-5 in one hour and 42 minutes in a decisive Play-off match for one of the remaining spots for the ATP Finals in London. Ferrer served for the match at 5-3 but he dropped serve allowing Murray to claw his way back into the match by winning four consecutive games. Thanks to this win Murray has moved up to World Number 8 with a gap of 110 points over Ferrer in the ATP Race to London. Tomas Berdych battled past Grigor Dimitrov in three sets in Stockholm with 5-7 6-4 6-4 and backs up his 7th place ahead of Murray. Diego Sampaolo
Ferrer got the first break of the match in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Murray broke back and earned a chance to take the lead at 4-4 but he made two forehand errors when he served at 5-6 and dropped his serve.
In the second set Murray broke serve twice in the third and the seventh games and fended off all the six break points he faced. The Scotsman reeled off five games in a row en route to winning the second set 6-2 and taking the third set with 2-0. Ferrer fought back by reeling four consecutive games to take a 4-2 lead but he dropped serve to 15 in the seventh game.
Ferrer served for the match at 5-3 but he made his seventh double fault and dropped serve to 15. Murray came back winning taking three breaks and reeled off four games in a row. He closed out the match with an ace to clinch his second title of the year after Shenzhen. Murray has become the third British player to win in Vienna after greg Rusedski in 1999 and Tim Henman in 2000.
Murray has boosted his chances to qualify for the ATP Finals in London as he is now ranked 7 110 points ahead of Ferrer.
The Dunblane player won his 30th career title and the second of the year after Shenzhen. He will next play in the Valencia ATP 500 and in the Master 1000 in Paris Bercy.
“It was an extremely difficult match. Ferrer deserved to win the first set. I deserved to win the second and the third could have gone either way”, said Murray
Kremlin Cup ATP 250 Moscow
Marin Cilic is ranked sixth and secured his spot as US Open winner. The Croatian player beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-4 to lift the Kremlin Cup in Moscow
Cilic has improved his record to 54 match wins becoming the second player this year behind Roger Federer who clinched 61 match wins. He lifted his fourth title of the season after Delray Beach and Zagreb and his 13th career title.
The first set was tough as it featured many deuces. Cilic saved three break points in his first game before breaking serve in the seventh game for 4-3. Bautista Agut put pressure on Cilic but the Croatian player claimed the first set with 6-4 before breaking serve at the start of the second set and held his serve to take the win after one hour and 24 minutes. Cilic follows in the footsteps of his coach Goran Ivanisevic who won the Kremlin Cup in 1996
The current stand of the ATP Race to London for the players who are still bidding to qualify is the following: 5 Kei Nishikori 4265 points, 7 Tomas Berdych 4105 points, 8 Andy Murray 3855 points points, 9 David Ferrer 3775 points, 10 Milos Raonic 3750 points, 11 Grigor Dimitrov 3555 points
IF Stockholm Open ATP 250:
Tomas Berdych fought back from a set down to battle past Stockholm defending champion Grigor Dimitrov with 5-7 6-4 6-4. With this wi Berdych makes a step forward to claim his spot for the ATP Finals for the fifth year in a row.
Berdych served for the set in the first set but Dimitrov recovered to take the edge in the first set. Berdych broke serve at the start of the second and the third sets to clinch the 10th title of his career with a solid performance. Berdych dropped just six points on serve in the second set and just four in the decider.
Dimitrov still leads 3-2 in their head-to-head matches but the Czech player won his first match on hard-court against the Bulgarian.
WTA Premier Moscow Kremlin Cup
Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova battled past Irina Camelia Begu from Romania 6-4 5-7 6-1 to clinch the Combined Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Pavlyuchenkova has become the fourth Russian player to claim the Kremlin Cup win but the first since Elena Dementieva in 2007. Pavlyuchenkova, who dropped just one set in the whole tournament, converted her second match point to claim her seventh WTA title and the second this year after Paris Indoor.
Begu broke serve in the first set but Pavlyuchenkova fought back to claim the first set. The Romanian cruised to a 3-1 lead en route to winning the second set. Pavlyuchenkova pulled away to 5-0 in the decider before closing out the match after two hours and 29 minutes. Begu player her first final at a Premier Tournament.
