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Murray, Federer satisfy record ATP finals crowd

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Updated Nov 24, 2009 2:57 PM ET
     
 

LONDON

A new name, a new venue and a new record crowd for a single tennis match in Britain. If that wasn't enough to get the ATP World Finals (formerly the Tennis Masters Cup) off to a flying start at the O2 Arena in London's Docklands, then Andy Murray, the local hero, and Roger Federer, the world No. 1, added the vital ingredients by clocking in with hard fought victories in round robin play. The crowd of 17,400 easily outstripped the roughly 15,000 person Centre Court capacity at Wimbledon. With every seat filled right up to the upper tiers in this imposing and beautifully lit arena, the players were left with no doubt that they were participating in an event that was helping take tennis to a new level. Murray, who defeated U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, is estimated to spearhead a tennis explosion which is injecting $660 million into the British economy. Every other economic indicator suggests that tennis has ridden the financial crisis with surprising ease. On the ATP tour, 15 tournaments posted record crowds, and here no less than 250,000 tickets have been sold for the eight-day event that features two sessions each day. With nine of the best 10 singles players in the world on display — only the injured Andy Roddick is missing — the tournament does not hinge on Murray's success. His victory certainly helped get things off to a positive start, though. He raced away to a 5-0 lead in the first set assisted, perhaps, by the fact that del Potro suffered a nose bleed after three games. "It happens sometimes," said del Potro, adding, deadpan, "I have a big nose." After a wad of cotton wool took care of the problem, the lanky Argentine quickly got himself into the match by pounding away with his mammoth forehand, and broke back before relinquishing the first set. He then took complete control of the second as Murray struggled to find sufficient first serves and erred on his normally reliable backhand. However, it was those two weapons that got the Scot back into contention in the third after most of the smart money would have been on del Potro carrying his momentum through to victory. "He's got a big serve; long reach; big forehand and goes for huge shots," said Murray. "You just have to try and find a way through that. Tactically, I've always been quite good so I found a way through it today." He did so by moving the big man around as much as he could; trying to hit short angled balls to the Argentine's backhand after establishing dominance in a rally. Allied to a higher percentage of first serves, it proved sufficient to regain the momentum he had enjoyed at the start. And the crowd helped. "It was great," he said. "You know it was different from Wimbledon. You can't see the crowd when you're on the court because it's so dark but you obviously hear them. It was a great atmosphere." Federer took a while to get accustomed to it all and actually lost a set to Fernando Verdasco for the first time in his career. It was the fourth time the pair had met, but the first time indoors, and Verdasco used his big left-handed forehand to maneuver Federer out of position and whip winners away cross court. Having closed out the first set 6-4, the Spaniard came within two points of putting himself in a position to create a major upset when he reached deuce on the Swiss' serve at 5-5 in the second. But he flunked a backhand and then, after Federer had held, made a terrible hash of a bounced smash in the next game. A typical, sweeping forehand cross court winner allowed Federer to take the set. After that there were no more alarms for the Wimbledon champion as he secured the victory 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. The top eight doubles teams are also competing here and will open each session. They were obviously thrilled to find almost everyone in their seats at the appointed hour. After Mark Knowles and Mahesh Bhupathi had beaten Frantisek Cermak and Michael Mertinak 6-3, 6-3, Knowles talked about the effect a full house had on their game. "It was great," said the Bahamian. "It raises the level for everyone and sharpens our game. You really feel the people appreciate what you are doing out there. Unfortunately, too many times we play in front of sparse crowds and you don't get the energy which was not the case today. The fans were really reacting to the tennis they were watching." Richard Evans, who commentated at Wimbledon on BBC Radio for 20 years, has been covering tennis since the 1960s and has reported on more than 150 Grand Slams. He is the author of 15 books, including the official history of the Davis Cup and the unofficial history of the modern game in "Open Tennis." He lives in Florida but is still on the tour 20 weeks in the year.

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