Andy Murray began his opening match at the World Tour Finals with a thumping ace down the middle.
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Nadal also made a convincing start to his ATP World Tour finals campaign after brushing aside pugnacious French Open victor Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2 last night.
“You have four days in between that you can adapt”. It’s better to have players that are coming in on form, which wasn’t the case really in the last tie.
“I’m very happy to be back, the previous year has been tough”, Nadal said. “We want to make the most of our time here”, Murray said afterwards. “Hopefully I can perform well here and in Belgium”.
It was hardly ideal preparation and inevitably Murray’s commitment against Ferrer was under close scrutiny from cynics who doubted whether the world number two really wanted to risk injury with the Davis Cup just around the corner.
Cris Cicirello, joint managing director of Wasserman Experience, said: “To be involved with the ATP for the seventh consecutive year is something we are very proud of”.
Unusually for Ferrer, who many would argue has overachieved in his career, he was let down by double faults.
The first set stayed on serve for the first nine games, although Murray started applying more and more pressure as the set progressed, setting up a break point in the fourth game and three more in the eighth – though Ferrer saved them all.
The world number one oozed confidence as he talked about his display, saying: ” I think I was at my best.
And from there Murray went for the kill as he forced two match points at 5-4 which proved too much for the Spaniard to come back from. Attempting to force the issue or hit a clean victor, he missed a forehand long.
Ferrer was soon battling to keep Murray at bay once again, however, succumbing in game six as the Scot levelled.
He awaits Nadal on Wednesday.
First set Nadal dominated on the court.
But this was not the same Wawrinka, with 35 unforced errors in 17 games from the Swiss a major factor in Nadal’s 6-3 6-2 victory.
“But for the rest, all the shots worked well: backhand, forehand, good volleys, good smash, no missing the smashes today”. But Nadal raced to the ball and engineered a sumptuous forehand cross-court lob to escape, leaping in the air to celebrate. 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. “And finally I had the break in the next game”.
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But Novak Djokovic is the man to fear after he romped to victory in his opening round robin clash yesterday, demolishing Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-1 im 65 minutes.
