World No.2 Andy Murray failed to reach the last four of the ATP Finals for the second successive year after suffering a straight sets defeat to Stan Wawrinka.
Despite being ranked higher than the French Open champion, it was the third successive time that Murray has lost to the Swiss player. Throughout the match Murray produced 30 unforced errors as he struggled with his timing against an aggressive Wawrinka. After his defeat, Murray honestly admitted that his timing has been off this week, but was unable to explain why.
“I felt like my timing would get better as the event went on, and it didn’t actually, it got worse, which is strange”. A gutted Murray said after his second consecutive loss.
“Timing’s never normally something that is an issue for me. I normally strike the ball fairly well”. He later added.
The moment for the unexpected issue to happen has come at one of the worst times of the season for the two-time Grand Slam champion. Besides the disappointing outcome this week, he also has the Davis Cup Final swiftly approaching. Murray is bidding to help Great Britain get their first Davis Cup title since 1936. Despite this increased anxiety for the British team ahead of their clash in Belgium, Murray has dismissed the significance of his recent troubles by saying that he expects things to ‘come back quickly’.
Murray finished third in the Ilie Nastase Group after beating David Ferrer in his first match before losing his next two to the Swiss duo. Comparing his win to the two losses, Murray said that he found it easier to play against Ferrer because he ‘had more time on the ball’. In contrast, he was unsurprisingly less positive about his two other experiences at the O2 Arena.
“There were way too many errors the last two matches”. The world No.2 said.
“ Yeah, everyone obviously can make mistakes. It’s just more on easy shots, cheap errors. Just something really for the most part of this year I haven’t been doing.”
Despite his week in London not going to plan, Murray has no time to waste on self-pity. The British team will fly off to Belgium on Sunday to prepare for the Davis Cup, however, it is uncertain if the British No.1 will travel with them or join at a later date.
Andy Murray’s career performance at the ATP Finals
2008 – SF
2009 – RR
2010 – SF
2011 – RR
2012 – SF
2013 – Didn’t play due to injury
2014 – RR
2015 – RR
Note: RR = Round-robin stage, SF = Semi-final
