Top seed Andy Murray required over three hours to outlast Milos Raonic 5-7, 7-6(5) 7-6(9), to reach his maiden final at the ATP World Tour Finals in London and boost his bid to end the year as the world number one.
The significance of the occasion was massive for both men, but for very different reasons. Murray wasn’t just bidding to reach the final for the first time in his career. The top seed was also aiming to maintain his lead over rival Novak Djokovic in the race for the year-end world No.1 position. Meanwhile, Raonic was contesting his maiden ATP Finals semifinal in the hope of ending his season on a high.
Facing a player known for his dominant serve, Raonic lived up to those expectations by taming the Brit throughout the first set. In contrast, the home favourite was the more tentative one on the court, despite having a winning 5-0 head-to-head over his Canadian rival this season. Murray’s nerves were apparent as he received a time violation during a marathon 12-minute service game towards the closing stages of set one.
On four occasions Raonic had a break point chance against the Murray second serve, but failed to convert. It appeared as if all those chances would prove costly for the 25-year-old until a nightmare game went in his favour. Faltering in front of the 16,000 capacity crowd, a series of Murray forehand errors combined with a double fault enabled Raonic to break for a chance to serve for the set. This time there was no blip after a 121 mph serve down the line sealed the lead.
Fearing an upset, the mood of the crowd dramatically switched from a state of jubilation to severe apprehension. Frequent screams of ‘come on Andy’ echoed throughout the Arena in the hope it would trigger a change in events. Their valiant effort failed to ease Murray’s dilemma.
As Raonic continued with his consistent play, a forehand slamming into the net from the world No.1 on break point pushed the fourth seed closer towards the final. Murray responded with glimpses of his excellence as he won two consecutive games in under two minutes. The excellence was patchy, but ultimately it enabled the top seed to somehow claw his way back into the match. The tiebreaker saw the momentum switch between both players, but it was Murray that triumphed after a volley at the net rewarded him his first set point before he took it with a quick serve that Raonic couldn’t successfully return back.
With a place in the final of the $7.5 million tournament at stake, neither was giving way as the match struck the three-hour mark. Approaching the final stages, twice Murray broke to serve for the match and twice he was denied by Raonic’s monstrous fighting spirit. The frustration was evident with the top seed shouting, looking towards his camp and hitting his racket with his hand.
Seven points separated both players from their maiden year-end final. Like the majority of the match, there was little to distinguish between both players. Three times Murray had a match point that he failed to convert. Giving all they had and laying their hearts out on the London court, it was eventually Raonic that prevailed. After frustrating Murray throughout the entire encounter, his 54th unforced error ultimately costed him the match.
The numbers from that epic Murray v Raonic contest. Time for a lie down. #ATPFinals pic.twitter.com/sWKXRvR0tF
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) 19 November 2016
“I played some great points and managed to get the break at the end.” Murray told BBC Sport.
“It was an amazing atmosphere. The longer the match went on the louder the crowd got. This is what we play for. Matches like this and arenas like this. This is one of hardest matches I’ve played indoors.
“I didn’t expect to play a long one with someone with a serve like Milos. I’m tired. I’ve played so much tennis over the last few months. I’ll give it my best effort – the best of what I have.”
Murray’s heartbreaking win against the fourth seed has failed to leave a bitter taste in Raonic’s mouth. Instead, he has praised the British players dominance on the tour during the second half of 2016.
“Andy has been the best player in the world definitely for the last six months. That’s the only thing that’s sort of missing from there, is that showdown with Novak.” Said Raonic.
Defeating Raonic in a record three hours and 38 minutes, Murray could secure his year-end number one position tonight if Djokovic losses to Kei Nishikori. Otherwise the two will battle it out for the accolade in tomorrow’s final.
