England, November 23 : Roger Federer dismantled Andy Murray 6-4 6-2 at the ATP World Tour Finals in London to move a step closer to a place in the semi-finals. With two straight sets wins under his belt, Federer is firmly in the driving seat in Group B although Murray and Robin Soderling both have one win and one loss apeice and can still progress with wins in their final group games on Thursday.
Federer was on imperious form as he raced through the match in less than 90 minutes, sealing the win when Murray dumped a forehand return of serve into the bottom of the net. "I think if you play many times against each other, you can't go the distance every single time," a charitable Federer said after improving his career record against Murray to six wins in 14 meetings.
"Tennis is not rocket science. It's pretty straightforward. I think he's going to turn around and come back and play a real good match in the next round." Murray had beaten Federer in similarly easy straight sets in the Shanghai final just over a month ago, but rarely looked likely to trouble the world number two in London as he struggled to replicate the heights of his form against Soderling on Sunday.
Federer quickly made his dominance tell as he broke to love in the third game, when he drilled a forehand passing shot down the centre of the court, over the top of Murray's racquet. The Swiss 29-year-old came out on to court with a clear game plan of rushing the net at every available opportunity on the slow courts, and it paid dividends throughout as Murray was pushed onto the back foot.
Although the Scot started to find some rhythm as the opening set progressed, Federer was already in control and won his first set point when Murray sent a cross court forehand wide. The second set was even more one-sided as Federer raced out to a 4-0, double-break lead before Murray could even get himself on the scoreboard.
Once again the Scot did manage to find some form towards the end, but it was far too little too late and Federer comfortably wrapped up the win on his first match point. "I got off to a bad start in both sets, which doesn't help," a glum Murray said just minutes after walking off court.
"I returned poorly, served poorly. Against him, that's not going to win you the match." With one win and one loss to his name, both in straight sets, Murray will now have to beat Ferrer on Thursday and hope that the result in the Federer-Soderling clash goes his way as well.
Article by Pippa Davis / Eurosport / photo by Gettys image
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