Andy avoids whitewash but is brutally beaten by Federer

ANDY MURRAY last night suffered one of the most humiliating defeats of his career when he was demolished 6-0, 6-1 by Roger Federer to crash out of the ATP World Finals in London. So severe was his mauling at the hands of the Swiss maestro that the Scot was just two points away from a dreaded whitewash for the first time since he was a 16-year-old playing on the lowly Futures circuit. It was also Murray’s heaviest loss for seven-and-a-half years — and the British No 1 now has the unwanted distinction of having been on the end of the worst defeat since the event moved to London’s O2 Arena in 2009. After Kei Nishikori had beaten

stand-in David Ferrer earlier in the day, Murray went into the Federer clash needing a straight-sets win to reach the last four. But the 27-year-old former Wimbledon champion, who had worked so hard to make the end-of-season tournament featuring the world’s top eight players, cut a shellshocked figure as he walked off the court following a match which lasted just 56 minutes. ‘It was a tough night,’ said Murray afterwards. ‘I’ve lost Slam finals, which has been very tough, but in terms of the way the match went it was not ideal from my side of the court. ‘He played exceptionally well, that’s for sure. I can say I’m disappointed with my level, but even if I’d played well he probably still would have won. ‘He was striking the ball very cleanly and made very few mistakes. He maybe didn’t hit his first serve as well as he can but, apart from that, everything else was spot on. ‘It’s very disappointing — it wasn’t what I was looking for. ‘He was through in the group, incredibly loose, he was able to try some shots he might not try in other situations and everything he tried came off.’ Federer, in an apparent bid to console his vanquished opponent, said: ‘I knew I was qualified, so maybe I went in a bit more relaxed. It’s not the way I thought it was going to go but there’s always next year for Andy.’ Nishikori had earlier said he would not be following the match because he wanted a ‘good dinner’ after his 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Ferrer — who replaced the injured Milos Raonic — but the Japanese would barely have tucked into his starter when his progress was secured after a first set lasting just 24 minutes. Murray won the first two points on the Federer serve but then lost an epic rally and from there things unravelled fast. Federer knew before the match he was already through but a set would see him top the group and, in all likelihood, avoid Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. He could swing freely while Murray knew he had to be aggressive but he could not land a first serve — just seven in the first set — and too often he found the net. From deuce in the second game, Federer won 14 points in a row to lead 5-0 and Murray could not prevent the embarrassment of a love set. It was the first ever love set in the 23 matches between the pair, and all the more remarkable considering they had been tied at 11-11. With his hopes of progressing over, Murray’s attention turned to trying to salvage something, but the longer the match went on, the worse things got for him.