Sunday’s showdown between David Ferrer and Andy Murray at the Erste Bank Open not only had a title on the line but also World Tour Finals implications. The two veterans entered this week separated by one spot in the race to London, both outside the top eight with Ferrer in ninth and Murray in 10th.
Murray had the added motivation of avenging a recent Shanghai loss to Ferrer, and that’s exactly what the Scot did. He recovered from a set deficit to beat Ferrer 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 after two hours and 41 minutes of play.
In addition to his second title of the year (second of this fall swing, as well), Murray will climb to No. 8 in the race, passing both Ferrer and Milos Raonic. The Spaniard will remain in ninth, while Raonic–who lost his opening match in Moscow–will fall two spots to 10th.
“I have a chance,” Ferrer said, referring to the year-end championship. “There are two more weeks, which are important to get to London. I will try and be more positive next week.”
Tomas Berdych improved his chances by triumphing over fellow contender Grigor Dimitrov in the Stockholm title match. Like Murray, Berdych bounced back from a slow start to win in three sets–5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
“I lost my chance in the first set when Grigor played incredibly,” Berdych reflected. “I kept pushing the same way and in the end it was the right decision. I was able to serve well from the second set and it worked pretty well. It’s another season with two titles under my belt, which is good. There are still a few chances to go this year.”
There could be three more tournaments for the Czech, even though he will not move up from his current standing of No. 7 in the race because Marin Cilic prevailed in Moscow to stay ahead of Berdych. Cilic, though, already clinched a spot on Saturday when the Basel and Valencia draws were revealed. With Cilic of no concern to him, Berdych did well to separate himself just a bit from those behind him in the race. He will be more than 300 points ahead of Ferrer and Raonic.
Cilic’s latest title came via a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Roberto Bautista Agut. The U.S. Open champion saved all six of the break points he faced (all six in the first set) while firing 10 aces compared to just one double-fault.
“After winning such a big tournament as a Grand Slam you have a lot of emotions and it’s important to bounce back and keep going,” Cilic explained. “After winning big titles, [opponents] are very motivated to play better and they are playing more [risky]. I felt also that this week I had a lot of tough matches and I was able to stay in the battle and bring on my best tennis. Next week I have a week off and then I will be preparing for Bercy; two very big tournaments coming up for me in Bercy and London.”
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