TheSportsCampus

Sunday witnessed an exciting start to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London as favourites Andy Murray and Roger Federer both needed three sets to edge Juan Martin del Potro and Fernando Verdasco respectively in their opening match of Group A round robin action.

Andy Murray overcame an out of form Del Potro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to get off to a winning start in the year end championships (YEC). Murray was in terrific touch right through, while Del Potro clearly looked short of match practice and was not able to show the consistency in play that he showed in the North American hard court season. He especially struggled with his serve but in what is worrying for the other players in the group, managed to take a set off the Brit, and is only going to improve as this tourney goes on.

Juan Martin del Potro got off to the worst possible start against Andy Murray, as he fell to a 5-0 40-15 deficit in the first set. After less than 5 matches in 2 months, the Argentine was clearly rusty & still looked like he was recovering from injuries. Worse, he called for the trainer with what looked like a twinged hamstring & also ended up getting a bit of cotton stuffed up his nostril for what was presumably a nosebleed. Andy Murray all this while was executing unerringly and exploited his opponents discomfort by hitting some drop shots that left him standing. He proceeded to stave off a threatening Del Potro fight back long enough to take the first set 6-3 in 49 minutes.

He didn't have enough to stop the Big Argentine in the second though. Del Potro broke Murray twice and despite losing his own serve once, outplayed Murray in the second 6-3. We all have seen and marvelled at Del Potro's power, but it was the finesse that was on display as well this set as he showed off some nice angles and touch at the net.

In an intense period at the start of the third, Murray held his nerve & stayed tough to break his opponent's serve and take a 3-0 lead. From there, the final set was all Murray and Del Potro's lack of match play was clearly visible as he fell away to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 defeat.

The evening session of play welcomed four time champion Roger Federer, as he brought an unbeaten record against Spanish Davis Cup hero Fernando Verdasco to their opening Group A encounter. Someone must have failed to show the Spaniard the script as he played an inspired opening game unleashing that lefty forehand on Federer for the early break. Verdasco then served out a near flawless opening set, winning 18 of 21 points on his first serve, enough to keep an error prone Federer at bay.

The second set saw Federer produce a considerably better display on his own serve, dropping just 7 points in 6 games. The set looked like it was heading towards a tiebreak when a case of nerves struck Verdasco in the 12th game. With the Spaniard just spinning his serves in, Federer needed no second invitation, raising the level of his play to force his first break point in the match and taking full toll to level the match at a set apiece.

A rejuvenated Federer and a disappointed Verdasco proved to be a non-contest in a deciding third set as the world no.1 raced to a 5-0 lead, and soon wrapped up the contest in just under the two hour mark 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

In Group A Doubles action, the all Polish pairing of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski pulled off a major upset in the opening match of the tournament beating top seeds and defending champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-4, 6-4 in yes, just 64 minutes of play!

The Poles were in outstanding form today facing no breakpoints on serve while creating 6 opportunities for themselves, of which they took one in each set for a comfortable win.

The other doubles contest saw the veteran pairing of Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles also coast to an easy win over the Czech-Slovak pairing of Cermak and Metinak 6-3, 6-3.

Monday promises to be an exciting day with the almighty grudge match between Rafa Nadal and Robin Soderling dominating the card. This is the first time that the two will meet since Soderling wrecked Nadal's love affair with Paris at the French Open in May. Novak Djokovic vs. Nikolay Davydenko too should be interesting as it pits the two in-form players coming into the year end finale. The pair have met 4 times previously, with both having an equal share of the spoils. Their last meeting was at the Shanghai Masters where Djokovic edged the Russian in a final set tiebreak.

Sunday Scores:

Group A Singles
A Murray (GBR) d JM del Potro (ARG) 63 36 62
R Federer (SUI) d F Verdasco (ESP) 46 75 61

Group A Doubles
M Fyrstenberg (POL) /M Matkowski (POL) d D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) 64 64
M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) d F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 63 63

Order of Play: Monday, 23 November

Bryan/Bryan vs. Mirnyi/Ram
Nadal vs. Soderling
Dlouhy/Paes vs. Kubot/Marach
Djokovic vs. Davydenko

File Photograph: Madrid Masters