TENNIS – Andy Murray bounced back from his defeat against Kei Nishikori by winning a do-and-die match against Milos Raonic in straight sets with 6-3 7-5 in the second round-robin match to keep his hopes alive to qualify for the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London. Diego Sampaolo
Murray, three times semifinalist in the ATP Finals, played a decisive match against Raonic in the evening match between the two losers of the first day. There was at stake as the Scotsman would have been eliminated if he had been defeated. Murray had won just one of his previous four head-to-head matches against Raonic who beat the Scotsman last March at Indian Wells
Raonic, the first Canadian player to qualify to the ATP Finals in the singles tournament, fended off two break points at 1-2 but dropped his serve in the sixth game with a double fault, a wayward smash and a missed forehand. In the ninth game Murray could not convert two break points but he closed out the first set with his serve on his third set point after 37 minutes.
Murray lost nine of his service points and made 8 of his 11 unforced errors with his backhand. Raonic made 23 forehand errors and won just 38 percent of his first serve points.
Murray got an early break in the second set to build up a 2-1 lead when Raonic made a double fault but the young Canadian broke back for 2-2.
Both players held serve until 5-5 until Murray got the decisive break to 15 to take the 6-5 edge when Raonic sent a forehand wide and netted a half-volley. Murray clinched the win on his second match point after one hour and 31 minutes.
It was very important for Murray to win in straight sets to keep his hopes alive. Raonic has still a slim chance to qualify if he wins his match against Kei Nishikori in straight sets
Murray will meet Roger Federer in the final match of the Group B. The Basel player has not already qualified but has made a big step with his 6-3 6-2 win over Kei Nishikori. If Federer wins nine games (the first set and the first three games of the second set), he will be automatically first in his round robin group. Winning against Murray would be vital for Federer, as he may risk a semifinal clash against Nole Djokovic if he finishes runner-up in his group
“I played better today than in the first match. I hit the ball a lot cleaner than on Sunday. I started to tray and use as much variation as possible on my second serve. I discussed the first match loss with Amelie Mauresmo. She lost her first match 6-2 6-2 against Nadia Petrova. Then she went on to reach the final. It’s nice to have those sort of discussions, having someone who experienced a tough situation after losing the first match.”, said Murray
“For me it depends on the match between Kei and Milos. If Kei wins, then I need to beat Roger. If Raonic wins, I know that all I need to do is to win the match against Roger and I will be through”
The Scotsman is looking forward to his next match against Federer. “It’s a nice match on Thursday to look forward to, it will be a great atmosphere again. It’s always a pleasure to play against Roger. He is one of the greatest players that has ever played, so to get the opportunity in an atmosphere like this is excellent”, said Murray.
Raonic talked about hi slow first-serve percentage in the first two matches at the post-match press conference. “My first serve percentage shouldn’t have been above 40%. I started hitting 115 miles an hour to get it past 50 %. I have 24 hours to solve it and I am going to need it if I want to have any hope. There is no way around that. It’s something I got to do.”
