Andy Murray won his thirtieth career title and strengthened his chances of making the ATP World Tour Finals as he beat David Ferrer in three sets to win the Vienna Open.
Murray, who won his first title since 2013 at the Shenzen Open in September, beat Ferrer 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 as Murray overtook his counterpart in the final in the ATP rankings, moving into eighth and 100 points ahead of the Spaniard. The Top Eight go through to the ATP World Tour Finals in London in November and Murray has 1250 points left to play for in the remaining tournaments he will compete in until the Finals.
The final itself was something of a marathon: a three hour thriller with Murray having to come from behind to win. Ferrer won the first set 7-5 and played the better tennis, but Murray showed his class in the second set as he cruised to a 6-2 win. The final set was the real epic as neither player seemed able to hold his serve.
Murray won the first two games, but Ferrer replied by winning the next four on the trot. Murray broke back, but lost his serve yet again and Ferrer was left serving for the match and the crucial 250 ranking points. The set had already seen three breaks on the trot and Murray saved the match by breaking Ferrer’s serve yet again. Murray finally started to produce his best tennis as he came back from the dead, winning four games on the trot to take the Vienna Open title.
He said after his win:
“It always feels good to win a tournament. It was an extremely difficult match. Ferrer deserved to win the first set, I deserved the second and the third could have gone either way. But it’s been a great week and I’m very happy.”
Andy Murray has suffered a very difficult 2014: injuries, disappointing losses in the majors and the uproar he caused after he revealed he would be voting “Yes” in the Scottish Independence Referendum have all contributed to one of the worst twelve months of his career. However, his two tournament wins in quick succession have put things back on track and should he be able to do well in the remaining tournaments (particularly the BNP Paribas Masters) and make it into the Tour Finals the year will be back on track. Should he able to go far in the Finals then things will be very promising for him going into 2015.
After his glorious 2012 and 2013 seasons, where he became Great Britain’s first Major winner in 76 years, the first Wimbledon home champion in 77 years and even won an Olympic Gold medal, Murray has come back to earth with a bump. However, should he be able to salvage something from this season and stay injury free going into the next, who would bet against a return to the glory days for him?
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