Andy Murray Beats Fernando Verdasco

27 November 2009

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Andy Murray need a straight sets win over Fernando Verdasco yesterday afternoon to guarantee his place in the ATP World Tour Finals semis.

However the Spaniard put a spanner in the works as he pushed the British number one to three sets, meaning that Murray would have a nervous wait to see if he would progress to the next phase of the competition.

Despite not winning a match at the O2 Arena Verdasco has played a major part in the tournament pushing all of his opponents the distance as has been unlucky not to get a victory under his belt.

While Murray has a winning record over the Spaniard it was Verdasco who dumped the Scot out of the Australian Open in that thrilling five set match back in January.

Since then both players have moved up the rankings.  The opening set was a solid affair from both players, Murray serving much better than in did in the latter part of the Federer match on Tuesday.

And it was to Murray that the first chance fell in game serve as he converted break point before going on to win the opening set 6-4.

But Verdasco, who had a slim chance of qualifying if he was to win, stormed back in the second to play some great tennis that showed why he is inside the world’s top ten.

The second set was another tense affair as the pair struggled to break the other’s serve, despite Murray having twelve break points.

As the set progressed Murray’s body language became more and more defeatist as he screamed at himself for missing opportunities to movie ahead.

But the Spaniard served big when it mattered to get himself out of trouble and push the set to a tie break.

And it was Verdasco who prevailed as he took the tie break, despite the crowd backing Murray, and the match went into a deciding set.

In the third set and Murray body language did little to improve as the pair continued to go toe to toe and despite chances for both players a second shoot out beckoned.

With 17,000 fans behind him it was Murray who found an extra gear in the tie-break as he opened up a commanding 5-2 lead as Verdasco’s serve began to fail him.

Murray wrapped up the match 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-3) but he had a nervous wait to see if he would progress to this weekend’s semi finals.

If Del Potro had a straight sets win over Federer then Murray would move through to the knock out phase of the competition if it went all the way then we were all going to have to get our calculators out.

But it wasn’t to be as Del Potro beat Federer in three sets and Murray lost on the games won percentage.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

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