Related News
Federer, Murray secure semis
Source: Agencies |
November 27, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ROGER Federer and Andy Murray easily secured spots in the semifinals of the World Tour Finals on Thursday with straight-sets victories in their last round-robin matches.
Federer continued his dominance over Robin Soderling, beating the Swede 7-6 (5), 6-3 to earn top spot in Group B of the season-ending tournament in London. Murray followed up by recovering from a shaky start to beat David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2 and hand the Spaniard his third straight loss.
Federer won his third straight group match and improved his career record against Soderling to 15-1, with his only loss to the Swede coming in this year's French Open quarterfinals.
"(Soderling) always brings out something different every time he plays me, because he has to try different things," Federer said. "I was able to handle it well, which was a very happy feeling for me to have."
Federer broke for a 5-3 lead in the second set, hitting a backhand passing shot that Soderling could only return into the net. The second-ranked Swiss then set up match point with a drop shot and converted it when Soderling hit his return into the net.
The two traded breaks once in the first set before Federer took control of the tiebreaker by earning a mini-break with a forehand winner after a long rally, and followed it up with two straight aces for a 5-2 lead. He converted his second set point with a lunging one-handed backhand that Soderling let sail past him thinking it would be long, only to see it land in the far corner of the court.
Federer's victory meant Murray only had to win a set to clinch second place in the group. He took care of that in 31 minutes, recovering from going down 2-0 by playing nearly perfect tennis in winning the next seven games to take control of the match.
His only stumble came after breaking Ferrer for the fourth straight time to go up 1-0 in the second set. He was broken at love in the next game, shanking a forehand so badly on break point that the ball hit one of the big video boards hanging over the court.
But Ferrer seemed unable to muster up much energy knowing that he had already been eliminated, and Murray broke twice more for a 5-2 lead. He sealed the win with an easy forehand winner at the net on his first match point.
Federer continued his dominance over Robin Soderling, beating the Swede 7-6 (5), 6-3 to earn top spot in Group B of the season-ending tournament in London. Murray followed up by recovering from a shaky start to beat David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2 and hand the Spaniard his third straight loss.
Federer won his third straight group match and improved his career record against Soderling to 15-1, with his only loss to the Swede coming in this year's French Open quarterfinals.
"(Soderling) always brings out something different every time he plays me, because he has to try different things," Federer said. "I was able to handle it well, which was a very happy feeling for me to have."
Federer broke for a 5-3 lead in the second set, hitting a backhand passing shot that Soderling could only return into the net. The second-ranked Swiss then set up match point with a drop shot and converted it when Soderling hit his return into the net.
The two traded breaks once in the first set before Federer took control of the tiebreaker by earning a mini-break with a forehand winner after a long rally, and followed it up with two straight aces for a 5-2 lead. He converted his second set point with a lunging one-handed backhand that Soderling let sail past him thinking it would be long, only to see it land in the far corner of the court.
Federer's victory meant Murray only had to win a set to clinch second place in the group. He took care of that in 31 minutes, recovering from going down 2-0 by playing nearly perfect tennis in winning the next seven games to take control of the match.
His only stumble came after breaking Ferrer for the fourth straight time to go up 1-0 in the second set. He was broken at love in the next game, shanking a forehand so badly on break point that the ball hit one of the big video boards hanging over the court.
But Ferrer seemed unable to muster up much energy knowing that he had already been eliminated, and Murray broke twice more for a 5-2 lead. He sealed the win with an easy forehand winner at the net on his first match point.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
