LONDON—All of Britain was abuzz Tuesday.
Prince William, adored in these parts, and Kate Middleton set a wedding date, April 29. Masses are sure to line central London, with the ceremony set to unfold at historic Westminster Abbey, and television ratings certainly won’t suffer. Those uninterested in that type of thing will be happy in any case, since it’s been declared a public holiday here. Perhaps they can catch quarterfinal action from Estoril, Belgrade and Munich. Yippee.
Unfortunately for tennis fans in the United Kingdom, Andy Murray was unable to dethrone royalty at the year-end championships. The bookies’ favorite, Murray disappointed in the most eagerly awaited round-robin clash of the tournament, falling tamely 6-4, 6-2 to
Roger Federer. Federer improved to 2-0 in Group B, almost into the semis, while Murray slipped to 1-1.
Murray woke up to headlines that included ‘Fed to the lion,’ ‘Andy Fed’n buried,’ and ‘Federer dictates script in Murray’s gruesome tale of the unexpected.’ Thankfully for him, he was hidden in the sports section. Champions League soccer and the upcoming Ashes cricket series between England and Australia got top billing.
Murray has now lost four of five matches to Federer in Grand Slams and the World Tour Finals; the 16-time Grand Slam champion was quick to point out the exception, in Shanghai in 2008, came as he struggled with illness and a back injury.
One of the game’s best returners, Murray heavily took advantage of Federer’s second serve in Shanghai and Toronto. In the opening set at the O2 Arena, though, Federer was successful on 10 of 12 second serve points. Murray’s serving frustrated—again—his backhand wasn’t as sharp as usual, and the forehand, not for the first time, lacked zip. There’s simply no penetration on that wing.
Murray needed a jolt, the kind Mike Bryan inadvertently received in doubles later Tuesday when twin brother Bob plunked him on the head with a serve.
Federer’s coaching duo of Paul Annacone and Severin Luthi couldn’t have hoped for a more emphatic victory.
“Something tells me Paul studied some tape,” Brad Gilbert, Murray’s former coach and a colleague of Annacone’s when they worked for the LTA, said in a phone interview. “Roger took a few more risks on the first serve and missed early, but that was probably Cone telling him to take more risks on the first serve and direct more second serves to the forehand.”
So much for home court advantage. Federer was slightly the crowd favorite, similar to 2009, and Gilbert suggested the slow hard court didn’t help the world No. 5. Murray has to regroup in a hurry against David Ferrer, 0-2, following a reverse to Robin Soderling.
“Andy’s counterpunching style isn’t as effective on a slower court,” Gilbert said. “I would know that because I was a counterpuncher and I liked faster courts. A lot of counterpunchers, from (Lleyton) Hewitt to (Michael) Chang to Murray, liked playing on faster courts.”
Soderling, now adept at competing on all surfaces, somewhat atoned for his sluggish performance against Murray on Sunday by overcoming Ferrer 7-5, 7-5. Soderling made life harder for himself by going 1-for-6 on break points in the first and blowing a 5-2 lead in the second. Conversely, his court coverage is better, and he’s developing a backhand slice, albeit an awkward looking one.
How the tenacious Ferrer would love Soderling’s serve, which was the difference.
“He served really well all the match,” Ferrer, a winner over Soderling on a similar hard court in Valencia this fall, told reporters. “Nothing else, no?”
Soderling must figure out a way to down Federer, outside clay, on Thursday. It was downright ugly when they met at this year’s Shanghai and U.S. Open quarterfinals.
“I don’t have a good record against him,” Soderling said at Friday’s media roundtables, understating matters given the 1-14 tally. “But every time I play against him, I learn something. I try to play my best and be aggressive.”
Andy Roddick was aggressive in a tough three-set defeat to Rafael Nadal in Group A on Monday, serving and volleying on second serve, ripping shots from the baseline and running around to thump the world No. 1’s second serve. Versus fading Czech Tomas Berdych, Roddick, after serving and volleying three times in his first two service games, reverted to his comfortable, conservative approach.
Why not? He’d won four in a row against Berdych.
All went to plan until he failed to convert two set points at 5-4 on the Berdych serve. Roddick relinquished a 40-15 advantage in the next game, throwing in a costly double fault, and Berdych grew in confidence, turning into the Berdych who prospered at the French Open and Wimbledon. The end product was a 7-5, 6-3 win that upped Berdych’s World Tour Finals record to 1-1.
“Generally when you play different people, you have different tactics,” Roddick told reporters. “I have a pretty good idea what to do. Now, if you don’t execute it, it makes most game plans look stupid.”
Despite his impressive form thus far, Federer shouldn’t be considered the overwhelming tournament favorite yet, Gilbert added.
“Roger dominated in the first few matches last year and you thought he was going to win it, then he went down to (Nikolay) Davydenko in the semis,” he said. “He’s playing great tennis, but last I checked, you don’t win the event on a Tuesday. People might be burying Murray, but it’s not over until you lose twice.”