Andy Murray defeats Robin Soderling in straight sets
Britain’s Number 1, Andy Murray, blazed into the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals opening match against Robin Soderling. The Scot defeated his Swedish opponent in straight sets, taking away the match to pull himself to the top of Group B, level with Roger
Federer, who defeated David Ferrer in straight sets as well.
Losing out on a semi-final opportunity to Juan Martin del Potro as a consequence of one game, Andy Murray seems determined to make sure that he does not repeat last year’s mistakes. The local player was cheered on by a home crowd of over 17,500 players.
With the charged atmosphere and Murray’s own determination, his 6-2, 6-4 victory came as no real surprise to anybody.
Murray took the match in one hour and twenty minutes, playing some of his best tennis yet. He broke Soderling’s serve twice in the first set (in the third and seventh games) to seize a considerable lead in only 33 minutes.
He did not leave much for Soderling, who seemed to have been caught off guard on the slow court. He played erratically, committing 26 unforced errors. Apart from a short period where he tried to redeem himself, he looked uncomfortable and even awkward in
the O2 Arena, making mistakes, which he would have avoided on any other surface.
It only got worse when he served Murray a double fault to hand him a 4-3 edge in the second set. He admitted his mental absence during the game, saying, “It was definitely tough today. I didn’t start off well, I think in the first set I wasn’t really there”.
On the other hand, Murray’s prowess on Sunday only served to underline Soderling’s abysmal performance. He arrived at London still wearing his laurels from his first Masters victory at Paris, which resulted in him upstaging Murray as World Number 4, but
was quickly brought back to earth when Murray defeated him.
Murray seemed very pleased with his victory, saying, “I played a very good match tactically today, very smart; Robin is a great player, he has played most of his best tennis on indoor courts. So to come out there and beat him with that scoreline is special".
He played exemplary tennis on Sunday, serving with great purpose and hitting ten aces in the match. His defending was also above par, closing down any chances for a comeback from Soderling. His first serve was a strong gunshot, and the ones which followed
did not disappoint. His backhand slice and drop shot aggravated Soderling, who set up his own defeat by shifting from his usual baseline play to an experimental style, which involved moving to the net many times.
Although, there may be better players than Murray on the Tour, one would be hard-pressed to find a comparison when the Scot brings his A-game to the court. His next match will be against World Number 2, Roger Federer, while Soderling fights hard to defeat
both Federer and Ferrer in order to have any shot at the semi-finals of the tournament.
The Tuesday match between Murray and Federer promises to be one to watch, with both players having similar shots to gain from winning. In addition to this, Federer is probably on the warpath after Murray managed to defeat him in their last two matches, most
notably the Shanghai upset. All these factors make for an entirely unpredictable match, especially if both players are in full form against each other.
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