ATP World Tour Finals: Andy Murray's season ends in crushing loss to Roger Federer
Friday 14 November 2014 10:57, UK
A forlorn Andy Murray admitted his thrashing against Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday night was 'tough to take'.
Qualifying for the season finale at the O2 Arena appeared to be a high point to finish on but it certainly did not feel that way after a 6-0 6-1 annihilation by the Swiss ace in front of his home crowd - his worst defeat for seven-and-a-half years.
Murray was two points away from being 'double bagled' for the first time since he was a 16-year-old amateur playing on the lowly Futures circuit.
Only once before, against Novak Djokovic in Miami in 2007, had Murray taken such a beating during his professional career, and on that occasion he had the excuse of being less than 100 percent fit.
Federer was already guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals and his display was proof once again that at 33 he is playing some of his best tennis.
Huge disappointment
But as good as the Swiss maestro was, Murray underperformed badly, and he made no attempt to hide his disappointment.
"It was a tough night," said the world No 6, who won only eight points in a 24-minute first set he knew he needed to win to stand any chance of making progress.
Obviously, 6-0 6-0, that's never happened to me in my (professional) career. I think 6-0 6-1 has maybe happened once to me before. So it's very disappointing, especially in a match like that.
"I've lost slam finals and stuff, which has been very tough. But in terms of the way the match went, it was not ideal from my side of the court - far from it.
"He played exceptionally well. That's for sure. I can say I'm disappointed with my level tonight. But if I played well, he probably still would have won anyway.
"Obviously, 6-0 6-0, that's never happened to me in my (professional) career. I think 6-0 6-1 has maybe happened once to me before. So it's very disappointing, especially in a match like that.
"I would have obviously hoped to have done a lot better than that. It wasn't what I was looking for when I went on the court.
"In terms of the nature of the match, when he's extremely loose like he was tonight - he was obviously through in the group - he was able to maybe try some shots that he might not try in other situations.
"But everything he tried tonight came off. He has the ability to do that."
No pleasure
Federer insisted he took no pleasure from handing one of his biggest rivals such a comprehensive beating and was happy he did not win 6-0 6-0.
Asked how he felt at 6-0 5-0, Federer said: "Not so cool because I wouldn't want to be in that position.
"I was happy to get it done. At the end I was happy I didn't win the second to last game to be quite honest. It's uncomfortable. I don't like it."
Federer moved to 12-11 in head-to-heads with Murray, but the Scot's last victory over the 17-time grand slam champion dates back to the 2013 Australian Open. Murray was left with a 0-9 record against Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal this season.
