2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals: Match Preview – Roger Federer vs. Andy Murray
Two singles matches are scheduled for the day as the unique round robin stage of World Tour Finals (WTF) continue at the O2 Arena, London. Titans clash as Group B professionals take to the court once again. Swiss maestro Roger
Federer starts the singles play for the day as he meets local favourite Andy Murray. Later in the day Swede Robin Soderling faces Spaniard number two David Ferrer.
Enjoying a 2-0 set score so far into the event, Federer plays his second round robin match against Britain’s favourite on Tuesday. The Swiss recorded his 30th
win for the event on Sunday when he enjoyed a straight set win over Spaniard David Ferrer. Coming into the event with four title wins including a Grand Slam win at the Australian Open, Federer seeks to end the season on a high note by clinching the WTF
title. His most recent title win was in front of his home crowd when he bagged the ATP 500 series title at Basel. He enjoys a win loss mark of 61-13 for the season.
If the Swiss has had a decorated season, the Brit is not lagging behind either. If anything, he enjoys a statistical upper hand. Murray leads the pair’s head-to-head score by 8-5. Although he has only two titles to his name this
season, he has won both of them against Federer; once at Toronto Masters and then again at Shanghai Masters. Their third meeting this season was in the Australian Open final where Federer recorded a win against the Brit.
Both professionals moved on in the round robin stage enjoying straight set wins over their opponents. Federer humbled Ferrer with a 6-1, 6-4 win, while Murray triumphed in a two- setter against Soderling. Recovering fresh from
the ranking upset that he faced after the Paris Masters by Soderling, Murray was quick to avenge it as he breezed past the Swede with a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Despite his two Masters defeats this year, Federer still believes he enjoys an edge over his opponent. Talking to the press he said, “We've kind of peaked at similar times this year. We both played well at the Australian, then
we played well in Toronto. We both played well in Shanghai. Here, it seems like we're both playing well again, so it's somewhat similar I guess. I guess overall I've been a bit more consistent than he has, otherwise I wouldn't be in front in the rankings.
He's had a great season and it's going to be a great match."
When it comes to the WTF, Federer has more than just talent to depend on. Qualifying for the ninth year, Federer has the experience card to play as well. He made an appearance in five WTF finals through 2003-08 winning the title
on four of these occasions. Murray on the other hand qualifies for his third straight year though he has not managed to win the WTF title yet. His debut in 2008 was impressive as he made it to the semis moving past Nadal and Djokovic. Murray failed to make
it to the semis in 2009 despite the home court advantage.
Speaking on numbers, the match can go either way though Murray enjoys a tad more “statistical” advantage. The Brit believes he has what it takes to defeat Federer, even though the latter may have returned to his form. Talking to
the press he said, "I'll have a different game plan for all the matches. When I played Roger and Rafa [Nadal] the last few times, I played very aggressive tennis. That's what you need to do against them. Against some guys you need to defend more. I think I've
improved that side of my game. I've worked on serve-volleying in some matches the last few weeks. I think I've attacked a lot better towards the end of this year than I was at the beginning."
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