Roger Federer, Andy Murray make it to ATP World Tour Finals'
semis
World Number 2, Roger “the Maestro” Federer was the first singles player at the 2010 Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals to book a semi-final slot for himself, followed closely by British Number 1, Andy Murray, yesterday.
Roger Federer crossed this milestone in the tournament with a crushing defeat of Robin Soderling. The Swiss defeated his opponent with a final score line of 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 at the O2 Arena in London on Thursday afternoon. This outcome was also a good news
for another Group B player, Andy Murray. After Federer’s win, he only required one set against David Ferrer in order to secure himself a spot in the semi-finals of the event. He has made it to the last four of the season-ending showcase event on his own country’s
turf for the first time in his career.
Robin Soderling was clumsy for most latter part of his match with the World Number 1, fumbling his first serves. He had trouble finding a comfortable foothold, possibly discouraged by the massive turn-out of Federer fans. The maestro commented on his performance
at the match, saying, “Playing against Robin’s never easy, he’s a big hitter, but I played really well against a player who’s in great shape also so I’m really pleased.”
Soderling, in the meantime, was aware that he had to win the match in order to stay in the contest for a spot in the last four. He entered the match with his guns cocked, troubling Federer within the first few games of the match. However, he quickly lost
his nerve and it cost him his second service game as he overshot on a volley to offer Federer the first break.
Perhaps, Federer’s superb performance during his demolition of World Number 5 Andy Murray was underappreciated due to the criticism of the Scottish player’s weak show, but the fact remains that Soderling seemed to be slightly unprepared for the high-level
tennis which Federer churned out during his third round robin match. However, he became aware of this fact soon within the first set, in which the maestro regained his footing to barrel through to a magnificent victory.
Roger Federer has won all three of his matches at the tournament which must be a relief to the former World Number 1, especially if Murray’s dilemma from last year is considered. The British player missed out on a position in the semi-finals, with the authorities
calculating that he had won one game less than 2009 US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro.
The tournament’s second seed was elated with his performance, saying, “I was able to come out and play a good, tough, solid match against a player who I thought was in good shape.”
Federer added that he felt he had been performing better at the ATP World Tour Finals than he had been in 2009, saying, “So I think, thanks to what happened last year, I was better prepared this year. I just wanted to come out and try to play as good a match
as I could. Losing is never a solution to trying to win a tournament.”
Tags: