Andy Murray, who lost to Rafael Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday, 6-4, 6-1, says he is always motivated to win, even in round-robin competition. Murray is now 1-1 in his group, having previously beaten David Ferrer (0-2). He will play Stan Wawrinka (1-1) on Friday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals.
Over the years, there have been suggestions that some players at the round-robin tournament who lost a match weren’t very upset because they had a still had a chance to reach the semifinals. Moreover, there have been accusations that players who had lost two matches and would not be able to advance didn’t try hard enough.
“I think the way the format is, almost every game is important," Murray said. "Rather than thinking like, ‘Oh, well, I can just lose this set, it's fine,' Maybe in the last round if you need to win one set to qualify, it's a bit different. But every year when I've played matches, pretty much where I needed one set to get through—I played Tsonga [in the ATP Finals in 2012] and won that match in two sets. I played Roger in Shanghai a few years ago where I already qualified [for the ATP Finals] and played near a three-hour match with him.
"I've never looked at any of the matches like that. You certainly don't want to lose to one of the guys that you're competing against in the biggest events for the biggest titles in the sport quickly in the second set.”
Murray was then asked if he would rather finish second in the group and likely face No. 3 Roger Federer (2-0) in the semis, rather than finishing first and potentially facing No. 1 Novak Djokovic (1-1). The top finisher in each group plays the second-highest player in the other group.
Murray insisted he was not looking at it that way.
“I think that Roger plays great in this event. He's won it, what, six times, played some unbelievable matches here. He obviously played great tennis [upsetting Djokovic earlier this week]. This isn't for me about who's better out of Roger and Novak because things can change on a daily basis," Murray said. "Obviously I lost comfortably to Rafa today and I could play him in a couple days' time and it could be a different story. I'm sure Novak feels the same way about his match with Roger. I think all of the players know that, I'm not trying to finish second in the group. I'm trying to win every match that I play. I hope that's how all of the players view it. Some people might have different opinions.
"I don't think it's right to tell me that the format is wrong, that I would rather finish second than first, when that's not true in my mind.”