The only logical final before the ATP World Tour Finals was the the showdown between Murray and Djokovic and before the semi-finals it seemed like the stars were still aligned for it with Murray playing Raonic and Djokovic vs Nishikori. But Milos Raonic was so close, so close in beating Andy Murray and should really deserve lots of praise for making that match into a real thriller. It became the longest three-setter in the tournament’s history, lasting 3h 38m and ended 5-7 7-6 7-6 in Murray’s favour. The scot has almost played ten hours of tennis in London and will …
ATP World Tour Finals 2016
In the longest match of the ATP World Tour Finals so far, world number one, Andy Murray, outlasted Kei Nishikori in a three-set marathon that lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes by the scoreline of 6-7 6-4 6-4. In the end, Murray’s impressive fitness got him the win countless of long rallies where he forced Nishikori to keep coming up with that extra good shot. The court seems to fit counter-punchers Murray and Djokovic really well and it plays remarkably slower than what I would have expected. Murray extends his win streak and Nishikori needs to fight for a place …
In the closest match of the ATP World Tour Finals so far, youngster Dominic Thiem managed to mentally outlast Gael Monfils in a topsy-turvy affair that ended 6-3 1-6 6-4. The reason I wrote “mentally outlast” is that Thiem is 22-3 in deciding sets this year while Monfils has a history of wavering in matches and his three double-faults in the last game of the match wasn’t particularly inspiring for his camp. Thiem did look very tired in the second set and sprayed a number of balls, but in the end he got his act together and got the W. …
In the first match of day 2 of the ATP World Tour Finals, I feel a bit sorry for the audience who probably expected a tough fight between Wawrinka and Nishikori, but the Swiss US Open champion didn’t look like a half of himself today and was really slow-footed during his 2-6 3-6 loss. Maybe there was looming injury concerns, maybe he was just tired, but it didn’t look inspiring for Wawrinka fans. On the other hand, Nishikori’s legs looked to be on fire and he handled Wawrinka’s pace with ease and managed to deflect most shots back with good …
I mostly write about racquets and strings on this blog, but I can’t really not mention the last tournament of the year – the ATP World Tour Finals. I was lucky to attend last year and get a few moments with Roger Federer after his win against Kei Nishikori in the round robin and I must say it’s a spectacular event. What is missing this year however is both Federer ANDÂ Nadal and it makes the tournament feel a little more “lukewarm” than usual. But we do have drama in the fact that Murray and Djokovic are battling for the year …