The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Murray’s the multi-tasker
Tennis: Scot’s main rivals reckon he can make cup transition in good time
Andy Murray’s rivals believe he will make the adjustment from hard court to clay in time for Great Britain’s Davis Cup final against Belgium in Ghent next week.
The world number two, pictured below, will spend this week playing in the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena, giving himless than aweekto prepare for the cup match which begins next Friday.
The Scot has made it clear the Davis Cup, in which Britain will attempt to win the title for the first time since 1936, is his priority and he did not practise on hard courts until Friday, having spent the first four days of this week honinghis clay-courtgame. Rafael Nadal played for Spain in theDavisCupfinal after theWorld Tour Finals in 2009 and 2011 and does not see the transition as difficult.
Nadal said:“We arecompeting in different tournaments in a period of time shorter than there is between here and the final of
“Players have four days to adapt and it will be not a problem for Andy”
Davis Cup. Players have four days in between to adapt and have time enough to prepare for the final and it will be not a big problem for Andy. He’s an amazing, talented player.”
The main issue for Murray is that, unlike Nadal, clay is not a natural surface for him and he likes to give himself plenty of time to adjust to the different physical and technical demands. But he can at least take lots of confidencefrom his clay-court season earlier in the year, which was by far the best of his career.
Murray had never previously reached a final on the surface, but won his first title in Munich and then beatNadal to lift the Masters trophy in Madrid before making the semi-finals of the French Open.
Stan Wawrinka was in Murray’s situation last year and showed it is possible to play well in both events, reaching the semi-finals in London and then playing the starring role in Switzerland’s Davis Cup win over France.
He said: “For me it was quite simple. I wa s struggling after the US Open w i th
m y game, with my confidence, somy goal was to play well inLondon, to findmygame and my confidence and then change surface.
“For me, changing to clay is quite normal and easy because I grew up on clay and I love clay. It took me one or two days so I didn’t have a problem. Andy knowsexactlywhathe’sdoing. He’s practised already this week on clay. I think he has a good plan. And indoor clay is always different to outdoor clay. He’s had an amazing year. What he did on clay was quite impressive and I’m sure he’s going to do well in the final.”
Wawrinka’s team-mate Roger Federer offers a more cautionary tale.
A back problem caused him to pull out before the final in London last year and he was well beaten by GaelMonfils in his first singlesmatchin theDavisCup before recovering to win the doubles and the decisive Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers marked their debut at the World Tour Finals with victory against Australian Open champions Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli.
Murray and Peers are seeded fourth in the doubles at the O2 Arena after a superb season where they reached the final at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
They were in fine form in the opening match of the end-of-season tournament in London, holding their nerve to win the deciding set tiebreak and secure a 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 11-9 victory.
Murray is only the second British player to qualify for the doubles, after Jonny Marray, since the event moved to the O2 in 2009anda goodcrowdwas in place to watch the Scot.
Murray and Peers looked confident from the off and deservedly took the opening set on a tiebreak after seeing a set point go begging in the 10th game.
They recovered from 4-1 down in the second to 4-3, but a mistake from Murray gave the Italians another break and they levelled the match.
That left proceedings to be decided by a tiebreak, with the winner the first to 10 points, or by two clear points thereafter.
It was nip-and-tuck but a crucial mini-break for 10-9 left Murray serving for victory, and a smash from Peers proved decisive.
The victory givesMurray and Peers, who are playing their final tournament together before parting ways, singles. Clay has been a major aggravating factor in Murray’s back issues in the past and he does not have the luxury of a team-mate such as Wawrinka to take some of the pressure off.
Federer said of his own experiences: “Stan was in good shape and he handled it very well. We played the sameamountofmatchesin London, but I was dealing with a back problem from Saturday night until the Davis Cup. It took me a a great chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Novak Djokovic gave no glimmer of light to his rivals as he demolished Kei Nishikori in the singles.
TheO2 Arena paused for a minute silence prior to Djokovic’s match to remember the victims of the Paris attacks on Friday, with red, white and blue bathing the court.
Once the opening singles match of the tournament began, it was business as usual for Djokovic as he took just 65 minutes to chalk up a 6-1, 6-1 victory and a 23rd consecutive win.
The world number one said: “I think I was at my best.”
Nishikori has qualified for the tournament for a second straight year but is struggling with an abdominal problem.
He said: “Novak played unbelievable tennis. I’m very ashamed with this score, but I have two more matches.”
Roger Federer easily defeated Thomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 to join Djokovic at the top of Group A. match to get confident and know I could play, which was a big relief for me. But it was possible.
“I know it’s a surface change but it’s something we do on many occasions throughout the year.
“It’s not a tournament, it’s just a two or three-day thing, and I think it’s just important that mentally you’re ready for it.
“It’s a great challenge for Andy and I’m sure he’s excited about it.”