Andy Murray is serving to stay in the match deep in the third set against his relentless opponent David Ferrer. One point away from defeat, he finds a first serve which is instantly neutralised and another gruelling rally in the slow, humid conditions begins. He holds nothing back on a series of forehands before Ferrer stops play to challenge a shot deep on the baseline.
If the ball is out, Ferrer ends his miserable record against the top four in ATP finals and claims the title. If it’s in, Murray wins the point and Ferrer must recompose himself after two and three quarter hours of the most physically and mentally draining match. Hawk-eye proves Murray’s shot clips the line and the match is effectively over. Ferrer is a broken man after his error, dropping to the floor with cramp in the tiebreak and only winning one more point.
For the Spaniard, this will be one of the toughest losses of his career. He recently turned 31 and time is running out to make his mark on the top events. Although he won his first Masters tournament in Paris last November, his draw had opened up considerably and he had the talented but inexperienced Jerzy Janowicz to defeat in the final.
The match against Murray was a chance to prove that he belongs with the top four, but defeat meant he has now lost all 13 of his finals against the elite group. He may take heart in the fact that he was so close to winning, particularly after suffering bagel defeats against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal earlier this year. However, Ferrer’s status as a tennis player seems to be in limbo, consistently better than all players below him in the rankings but frequently coming unstuck against the higher ranked men.
On Sunday he was on the verge of dispelling the claims that he is too lightweight to beat the best, and showed remarkable mental strength to come back from a break down four times in the final set. Ultimately though, his apology to his Spanish fans for falling at the final hurdle was a poignant reminder that this was a golden opportunity missed.
As for Murray, great confidence will be taken from the fact that he won his first Masters event since September 2011. Although last year was by far his most successful, he was relatively inconsistent in tournaments below Grand Slam level, an aspect he needs to work on to realise his goal of becoming world number one. With Roger Federer absent from Miami, Murray capitalised on the Swiss’ dropped ranking points to take the world number two spot, which if retained would be a significant advantage going into the French Open.
The Miami final was in many ways an echo of his US Open triumph, wherein adverse weather conditions and his own self-doubt were needed to be overcome as much as the guy on the other side of the net. The wind and humidity accentuated the slowness of the court, meaning winners were at a premium and the number of unforced errors the deciding factor. The tennis may not have been spectacular, but to outlast the man whom Boris Becker described as “the Duracell Bunny” proved that these days there are no limits to Andy Murray’s physical and mental capabilities.
Attention now turns to the clay season, and Ferrer will be hoping to recover on his favoured surface. Murray acknowledged after the Miami final that he would need to work on his serve, after being broken eight times and only serving two aces all match. On the slower surface of clay, it’s even more important to be able to interrupt the long rallies with quick points on serve, something Murray will need to be in better form than last year, when he failed to go beyond the quarter finals of all four clay events he played.
Although Murray doesn’t produce his best tennis on clay, he will see the next two months as an opportunity to pick up a lot of ranking points and keep his position of world number two. With a rested Federer, rejuvenated Juan Martin Del Potro and resurrected Nadal amongst his competition, the run in to the French Open promises to be full of drama.
Matthew Bugler, Online Sport Editor
exeposedev 