Murray suffers defeat at the hands of Federer

By Simon Hayes on November 25, 2009 10:00 AM |

Tagged with:

There was disappointment for the Andy Murray fan club last night when the British star lost with a whimper to Roger Federer.

Murray made too many basic errors as he went down 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to the world number one in front of a packed arena at The O2.

The 22-year-old's serve let him down as he managed to get just 46 per cent of his first serves in, giving Federer the chance to impose himself on the match.

It was a failing Murray acknowledged.

He said: "I didn't play well. It happens sometimes. I didn't play well and I made mistakes.

"It's difficult against him, if you miss so many first serves. You put yourself under a lot of pressure. Maybe I made more mistakes than normal but I just didn't play well."

It had all started promisingly for Murray despite dropping his serve in the very first game.

He broke straight back and went on to outplay the Swiss maestro for the rest of the set, taking it 6-3.

But the early danger signs were there, too many double faults and failures to take break points when offered, and the balance of the match began to swing Federer's way in the second set.

You could sense Federer was moving up a gear and he began to pull away from his younger opponent, a player who has caused him problems in previous meetings, and he clinched the set convincingly.

Murray seemed to run out of steam in the third and Federer was in cruise control as he romped home 6-1.

Murray admitted he has a groin injury which has made it difficult for him to maintain early momentum during matches since recovering from a wrist injury last month.

He said: "One thing that's been a problem for me since I came back was I played well in the first set of matches, then when the adrenaline wears off there's not quite the same spark in the legs that there was at the start of the year.

"I had a problem with my groin for three or four weeks since I started playing again. It's just a bit sore, but I'm sure all of the players have got something a little bit stiff or sore at this stage of the season."

Murray will now have to beat Fernando Verdasco in straight sets tomorrow to secure himself a spot in the semi-finals.

Earlier yesterday Juan Martin Del Potro edged out Verdasco in a three set thriller.

The Argentine, who lost to Murray on Sunday, won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, against his Spanish opponent to leave the group wide open.