Murray sails off with Dubai title
Andy Murray is heading off to Indian Wells with another title to his name and full of confidence, writes Simon Cambers
THERE are few holes in the game of Andy Murray these days, but the Scot will head to the Californian desert this week aiming to plug one of the few in his resume, a victory in Indian Wells. Murray has never won the BNP Paribas Open in the Coachella desert – one of just three Masters 1000 titles he has yet to claim – but then he has never arrived there as the world No 1 and with such confidence.
His 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco yesterday gave him a first Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship title, a first title of 2017 and the 45th of his career.
“I struggled in Indian Wells and Miami last year, didn’t play so well,” said Murray, who admitted it would take a few days to recover from the 16-hour flight from Dubai to Los Angeles.
“This week’s obviously given me great momentum going into that stretch and hopefully I can play well there.”
When he does play his first match in Indian Wells, probably next weekend, he will do so in the knowledge that by the time the Tour hits the clay next month, he is likely to be streets ahead at the top of the world rankings.
This time last year, Murray was almost 8000 points behind Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings, which is an absolute mile in tennis terms.
But the beauty of the ranking system is that if the top two swap roles – as they did in 2016 when Djokovic slipped from his stunning level and Murray hit careerbest form – then things can change quickly. Murray leads Djokovic by 2215 points going into Indian Wells, but Djokovic will be defending 1000 points there and in Miami, which follows immediately after.
By contrast, the Scot was beaten in the second round in Indian Wells and Miami last year, and has a mere 90 points to defend, offering him the chance to open up a big lead before he heads to the clay and a period of the season where he performed so well in 2016.
His victory over Verdasco was not quite as straightforward as the scoreline might suggest, but as so often with the best players, Murray was able to get the job done without needing to hit top gear.
A poor opening service game saw him fall behind and a couple of poor forehands saw him trail 3-1 in the first set against an opponent who had only beaten him once in 13 previous meetings.
Verdasco, 33, had enjoyed a fine week, but once Murray had broken back for 4-3, there was little doubt he would be holding up the trophy.
Verdasco’s resistance ended, effectively, when he was broken in the third game of the second set, his serve – which he was just rolling in with little pace – causing Murray fewer and fewer problems as the match progressed.
Complacency was Murray’s biggest concern as the second set drew to a close, but the world No 1 remained rock-solid, breaking again and closing it out with ease.
Having survived seven match points to beat Philipp Kohl- schreiber in the quarter-finals, Murray may just have felt he was destined to win the title.
“Often when you get through matches like that, it settles you down for the rest of the tournament and I played a good match today,” Murray said.
“Maybe the last couple of matches didn’t start the way I would have liked, but once I got going today, I was moving well and finished strong.”
Murray has made the final in Indian Wells just once, in 2009, but his form is there and his mind seems to be right .“Obviously it’ s always nice to win any tournament, but especially ones you haven’t won before,” Murray said. “I am very happy to do it here for the first time and it’s been a good start to the year.”