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Murray runs out of gas in front of home fans

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Updated Nov 25, 2009 7:18 PM ET
     
 

LONDON

Andy Murray's hopes of showing the home crowd just how he had beaten Roger Federer six times in nine previous meetings unraveled in disastrous fashion at the ATP World Finals on Tuesday, when the Swiss capitalized on a catalogue of errors from the Scot to win this round-robin match 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. At 1-1 in the third set, the match was poised on a knife's edge. Federer had the momentum but neither man had been at his best with the world No. 1 just as capable of shanking a forehand as fourth-ranked Murray had been of putting backhands into the net. Then, Murray double faulted on the first point for the second game in a row, and this time it led to a break from which he could not recover. Earlier in year, Murray had been telling us that if he could serve at 80 percent on his first serves, he could become No. 1 in the world. In the final set here, Federer was serving at 87 percent while the Scot struggled throughout the 1 hour, 57 minute duel to stay above 50 percent. Statistics are often misleading in tennis, but this one told its own story. And, speaking of world No. 1, this win ensures that Federer will regain the year-end top spot from Rafael Nadal, becoming only the second man in the 36-year history of the ATP rankings to climb back to the top after being displaced in the same year. Only Ivan Lendl had achieved that feat before him. It is the fifth time Federer has finished at No. 1, tying Jimmy Connors and moving within one place of Pete Sampras, the man whose records Federer seems determined to expunge. It was hardly surprising that Murray pin-pointed his serve as the reason for his failure to maintain a bright opening. "When Roger was struggling a little on his first serve, I was able to dominate," he said. "But, after that, I was serving so poorly that I could not stop Roger dominating. I didn't play well and made more mistakes than normal, which was disappointing because the crowd was awesome." Searching for answers, Murray admitted that, since his return from a wrist injury after a six-week layoff, he has been struggling to maintain a high level throughout the match. "At the beginning of the year, I wasn't letting guys back in. But over these last few weeks, when the adrenalin wears off, the spark has been missing towards the end of my matches." Federer was thrilled at having beaten the Scot over two consecutive matches for the first time in his career. When he beat Murray in the Cincinnati semifinals in August, it broke a run of four successive defeats, including a loss just as decisive as this when Murray won the third set 6-1 against him at Indian Wells in March. It is still possible these two could meet in Sunday's final, and then anything could happen. But Murray knows he will have to serve better than this just to qualify from his group. In the first singles match of the day, Juan Martin del Potro survived a strong challenge from Fernando Verdasco and kept himself in contention for a semifinal place with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (1) win over the Spaniard. Verdasco hauled himself back into the third set with some aggressive forehands but went for too much in the tiebreak, and a string of errors on his favorite flank allowed the Argentine to close it out. With one victory and one defeat, del Potro will need to beat Federer next time out to keep his chances alive. Earlier, Andy Roddick — who is in London at the request of his clothing sponsor Lacoste (and to pick up a year-end bonus check) — told us that he is now able to run in a straight line and that he hopes to be back on court soon. That may be as early as next week if he accepts Mark Knowles' invitation to play in an exhibition event that Knowles runs in Nassau. Roddick appreciated the huge round of applause he received when he was introduced to the crowd. "It meant a lot," he said. "I certainly felt an overwhelming amount of support during the fortnight at Wimbledon and even in the aftermath of it all. I was really looking forward to getting back here and playing in a different atmosphere and I'm envious of the guys who are playing. For the fans to show they wished I was playing as well was humbling and it was very nice to hear." 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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