“I served pants,” said Andy Murray last night after he was defeated in three sets by Roger Federer in front of 17,500 fans at the O2 Arena in London.
Murray may now have to beat Fernando Verdasco of Spain tomorrow to progress from group A to the semi-finals of the the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Federer’s fightback to take a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory, which means the Swiss is now guaranteed to retain his world No.1 spot going into the new year, was bitterly disappointing for the Scot.
“I did not play well and I made mistakes. It’s difficult against Federer, if you miss so many first serves, then you put yourself under a lot of pressure,” said the 22-year-old from Dunblane.
“If you give someone the the opportunity to dictate, not only on his own service games, but on your own, it is very difficult to win. I served so poorly that anybody would have looked good against me tonight because they would get a chance pretty much every single point.”
Federer will play Juan Del Potro tomorrow as the 21-year-old Argentine, who beat Verdasco in three sets yesterday, tries to squeeze Murray out of the tournament by repeating his victory over Federer in the US Open final at Flushing Meadows.
Murray, though, was not panicking last night. “The only important thing is to try to qualify from the group,” he said. “I just have to win against Verdasco.”
Murray has a 7-1 record in his favour against the 26-year-old from Madrid, who has only beaten him at the Australian Open.
His record against Federer now stands at 6-4 in the Scot’s favour but the Wimbledon champion has now won two consecutive matches against the Scot.
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