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TENNIS

Söderling suffers loss at ATP World Finals

Sweden's Robin Söderling got off to a poor start at the ATP World Finals on Sunday, losing his opening match to Britain's Andy Murray in straight sets.

Söderling suffers loss at ATP World Finals

Andy Murray made a perfect start to his bid to win the tournament for the first time with a 6-2, 6-4 victory at London’s O2 Arena.

Murray was in fine form as he opened the annual end-of-season event, featuring the world’s top eight players, with the kind of dominant display that hinted the British number one is capable of providing a home winner for the fans.

Söderling, seeded fourth, has had an impressive year, but fifth seed Murray was at his imperious best as he dismissed him in one hour and 20 minutes.

“Tactically it was a great match,” Murray said. “I played very smart tennis and even when it was getting tough in the second set and I was on the defensive quite a lot, I stuck to my tactics and managed to come through.

“Robin is a great player. Most of his tournament wins have come indoors. So to win with that score line is obviously great.”

Söderling added: “I didn’t start off very well. The first set was not very good. I wasn’t really there.

“The second set was better and I felt I had him on the run a lot of times. But every time I came in at the net, he came up with a really good shot. So he was just too good.”

Murray had the perfect motivation against Soderling as the Swede had replaced him as the world number four after winning the Paris Masters last weekend.

Murray’s slump out of the top four after almost two years in that elite group was the result of an inconsistent season which raised fresh doubts about his ability to end his long wait to win a Grand Slam.

The 23-year-old, who lost the Australian Open final to Roger Federer in January, arrived at the Finals in search of a morale-boosting end to the season and made the ideal start to his Group B campaign.

Murray has always thrived on the support he gets a short distance across south London at Wimbledon and playing in front of 20,000 partisan fans was clearly just the tonic he needed.

A brilliant cross-court winner on the run opened up a 30-0 lead in Söderling’s second service game and allowed Murray the chance to earn three break points.

He converted the third with a fine return that flashed back past the Swede for the first break.

Söderling’s position at four in the world rankings is a career-best mark, but Murray can regain that position from him with a good run here and he refused to offer the Swede a route back into the match.

He broke again for a 5-2 lead after a pair of searing returns proved too hot for Soderling to handle.

With Murray’s serve in a smooth groove, there was never any doubt he would close out the set and he did exactly that with a perfectly executed drop shot on his second set point.

Murray admitted he was terrified when British Prime Minister David Cameron asked him to play tennis in his expensively furnished dining room during a visit by the eight finalists to 10 Downing Street this week.

He was much more at home on a more traditional court.

Söderling made the semi-finals here 12 months ago, but the indoor surface seems slower this year and that suited Murray better.

Murray had the answer to everything Söderling threw at him. One swatted winner on the run bringing a huge ovation from the crowd, while he dodged a break point in the sixth game with an ace.

Söderling self-destructed after that as a careless service game, including a double-fault on break-point, allowed Murray to take a 4-3 lead, which he quickly turned into a match-winning advantage.

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ROGER FEDERER

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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