Andy Murray was eliminated from the World Tour Finals shortly after 10:00 p.m. on Friday night. He wasted no time making it to his press conference around 10:30. Before the clock struck 11:00, Murray was back on the main court at the O2, practicing with coach Jonas Bjorkman.
That’s right–Andy Murray, who had been knocked out of the tournament less than an hour earlier, was back to practice. That’s right–the same Andy Murray who will be playing the Davis Cup final on clay next week, was back to practice on an indoor hard court.
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At least for a few moments following his winner-advance, loser-go-game showdown against Stan Wawrinka, Murray was not yet thinking about the upcoming title tilt between Great Britain and the host Belgians.
“No, not right now,” Murray said when asked if the Davis Cup would help takes his mind off his shortcomings in London. “In a few days, it’s a great opportunity for everyone. But, I mean, right now, no. I’m not thinking about next week. I’m not so much concerned about next week. It’s just [disappointment] that I lost the last two matches.”
While the second-ranked Scot has a chance to make amends for his round-robin ouster, the same cannot be said of the other three competitors who failed to emerge from group play. The next time Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, and Kei Nishikori play an official ATP tournament match, it will be January of 2016.
For Berdych, the story was a similar one: he struggled against the best players in the world. After dropping a tough three-setter to Nishikori, the sixth-ranked Czech failed to take a set or even force a tiebreaker against Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
“That’s definitely one of the aspects that I need to work on or basically be able to get better in those matches, playing those top guys,” Berdych admitted. “That’s it. I don’t know if it’s a matter of being more focused or being stronger or whatever part it is. You can call it really whatever you want. In the end it’s a matter of if the ball lands in between the lines; (if) you play good tennis. You have to keep working on your game because the opponents are not sleeping and they are trying to improve, as well.”
Like Berdych, Ferrer also went 0-3 this week. But the 33-year-old Spaniard at least managed to end on a relatively high note. After going down in straight sets to Murray and Stan Wawrinka, Ferrer lost to countryman Rafael Nadal in a high-quality three-setter on Friday afternoon.
Both Berdych and Ferrer have either picked Nadal to win the tournament or at least give him a strong chance.
“I [always choose] Roger, so let’s try something different,” Berdych explained. “Rafa is basically looking pretty good.”
“He will have a chance for win here, sure,” Ferrer stated.
As for Nishikori, he arguably deserved a better fate than his exit after three matches. Ultimately doomed by a 6-1, 6-1 blowout loss to Djokovic, the Japanese star bounced back valiantly to beat Berdych and push Federer in a tight three-setter.
“I was playing very good,” Nishikori assessed of his match against the 17-time major champion. “[In the end it was a really close match]. It is a shame to lose like this. I thought I was playing well, so congrats to Roger.
“[I’ll be] trying to work hard again,” Nishikori said of his offseason. “I think I have good three weeks to train. I try to work on little things to improve [a little bit] more. I think physically I have to be little [stronger]. But I’m excited for next year.”
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