Andy Murray’s first official match as the world’s best player is one that was filled with mixed emotions after he struggled past Marin Cilic 6-3,6-2, in his opening match at the ATP Finals.
The O2 Arena has been a place that has brought Murray disappointment in recent years after failing to progress beyond the round robin stages in 2014 and 2015. This year however was different. He is now the world number one and enters the event with four consecutive titles under his belt.
The first set scoreline was not a true reflection of the difficulties encountered by the top seed. Even Cilic’s questionable choice of shorts failed to lighten the mood in the match. Enduring a series of lengthy exchanges with Cilic, Murray struggled to reach a consistent point in his own service games. Hitting four double faults and claiming 43% of his second service points, the Brit was helped towards the lead thanks to his opponents costly 17 unforced errors (three more than Murray). It was only fitting the first set was decided due to back-to-back unforced errors from the Croat.
Grabbing the first set in a somewhat rusty manor, both men continued to struggle with their serve. It wasn’t just the roller coaster performance of the Brit that was alarming his army of fans at the O2 Arena, it was the state of his health too. At 2-2 in the second set, a flawless passing shot rewarded Murray with two break points, who immediately grabbed his left hamstring after as a precautionary measure. With his camp nervously watching, the breakthrough occurred on his second opportunity after a forehand landed deep in Cilic’s side of the court. Finally, he has secured the momentum that he was desperately searching for, slamming a forehand cross-court winner a couple games later to secure a double break. Closing in on the finish line, the tricky victory was secured with the help of another dismal error from the former US Open champion.
” It was a great reception. A really, really good atmosphere tonight. It was obviously nice to play in that stadium with the crowd like that. It obviously helps.” Said Murray.
“After a long kind of few months, it’s nice to know that I’m going to be finishing the year, you know, playing in that sort of atmosphere. It helps you get up for the matches a bit more, as well.”
The mood expressed by Murray about playing as the world’s best player in front of his home crowd was filled with a great sense of pride. On the other hand, producing a winner-error ratio of 11-19 against Cilic on Monday, some has voiced concern about his current level of play. Those concerns are ones that has been swiftly dismissed by the Brit, who has blamed his lacklustre display on the conditions and not his current levels after experiencing such an intense part of the season.
“I didn’t feel any more nervous than usual. It’s just quite different conditions in there than what we’ve been practicing in during the week. It’s a lot slower than it has been. A lot of the players have said that, that I’ve spoken to. I don’t know if it’s because of the humidity in there. Normally when it gets hotter, it tends to speed the ball up. But it felt much slower tonight than it had done during the week.” Said Murray.
Bidding to end the year as the top of the ATP Emirates rankings, Murray is aiming to progress beyond the round robin stages at the year-end event for the first time since 2012.