Roger Federer made all the right moves while winning his second match at the ATP World Tour Finals—6-4, 6-2 over Andy Murray—including choosing to receive serve when the Scot incorrectly picked ‘tails’ during the pre-match coin toss. The only time Federer looked in trouble Tuesday was when his shorts pocket caught on the net-post crank handle after shaking his defeated opponent's hand.
The first four points of Murray’s opening service game were omens of what was to come. While Federer missed two service returns, he also flashed a pair of forehand winners. Two games later, Federer won all four points to break serve, finishing with a forehand passing shot through the middle that went right past a startled and none-too-pleased Murray.
Murray managed to hold his serve the rest of the set, but he struggled, only making a woeful 32 percent of his first serves.
When Murray had beaten Federer in eight of their previous 13 matches, he had usually served well. Neither of those things happened today in London. Things only got worse for Murray in the second set, as Federer broke serve two more times and raced to a buzz-killing 4-0 lead. The Swiss was moving in peak form, adjusting location smartly to hit his patented inside-out forehand, with devastating effects.
Earlier this week, Federer said the following about his and Murray’s 2010 seasons: “We both played well at the Australian, then we played well in Toronto. We both played well in Shanghai. Here it seems like we’re both playing well again. So it’s somewhat similar, I guess. Only difference is I have the Slam and the 250, 500 and 1000.”
What can you glean from Federer's words, besides that dig at the end? That the Swiss knows he can beat Murray when all things are equal. He has to think that there were extenuating circumstances affecting him during several of Murray’s previous wins. For example, the following losses are noted with, in parentheses, what Federer surely believes was a mitigating factor: Shanghai final 2010 (an element of fatigue after beating Djokovic the previous day in later semifinal), Toronto final 2010 (an element of fatigue after beating Djokovic the previous day in the later semi-final), Indian Wells 2009 (back), Shanghai 2008 (back) and Dubai 2008 (after effects of mononucleosis).
To be fair, Murray was disadvantaged in his 2009 loss to Federer in the Cincinnati semifinals (fatigue after winning the previous week in Montreal) and his 2008 defeat in the U.S. Open final (no prior day off, unlike Federer).
All that said, there is a sense that Federer, fit and rested as he was at the O2 Tuesday, is superior. It is almost impossible not to hear echoes of Murray’s words after he lost the 2010 Australian Open, “I can cry like Roger, it’s just a shame I can’t play like him.”
Murray has a chance to bounce back against David Ferrer on Thursday, but Federer is now virtually guaranteed a semifinal spot with his two one-sided wins. At 29, he likes, and needs, rest between big matches, and now will only play once (Soderling) in the next three days before Saturday’s semifinals.
—Tom Tebbutt