Groin injury could force Murray out of World Tour Finals

ANDY Murray will decide today whether to pull out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London after struggling with a groin injury during a 6-4, 7-5 defeat to David Ferrer.

The world No 3 was one of the favourites for the title before the tournament began, but never looked comfortable during the two hours he was on court at the O2 Arena. Murray revealed after the match that he picked up the problem in his left leg during practice last week, and admitted if the tournament had not been such a prestigious one on home soil then he would not have taken to the court at all. He said: “I’ll decide tomorrow whether or not I keep playing. You’ve got to sometimes do the right thing. I didn’t know exactly how it was going to feel on the court today. I’ll see if I feel any better tomorrow.”

Recalling the moment he felt the muscle pull while stretching for a ball in practice, Murray said: “I’ve never really had many strains, it’s more been bony, jointy things, especially playing on hard courts. It was the first time I’d really felt anything go.”

For a player struggling with his movement, as Murray clearly was, Ferrer, the most dogged of Spanish baseliners, was a nightmare opponent. Murray had won all their previous meetings on hard courts but Ferrer, a clear world number five these days, has had an impressive season and 44 unforced errors from his rival was simply far too many.

“He’s just very, very solid,” said Murray. “He gives you very few points. Normally when I’ve played against him, I’ve served pretty well, and you can get some free points on your serve if you serve well. But he returned well today, made hardly any mistakes on the return, so he was always putting pressure on my service game. I still had chances to break him, but on my serve I didn’t do a great job.

“I think I was a break up in both sets, so it’s disappointing. I felt flat, in the second set especially.”

Yesterday’s events were particularly disappointing for Murray given his form during the autumn, which saw him win three titles in successive weeks in Asia, with this tournament providing the opportunity to showcase that form on home soil. The round-robin format means he still has a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals but to do that he is likely to have to beat world No 1 Novak Djokovic and in-form Czech Tomas Berdych, while his failure to win a set today means even that may not be enough. Asked about his feelings were he forced to pull out, Murray added: “It would be gutting, really gutting.”

The world No 3 had crushed Ferrer in the group stages here last year and he made the perfect start with a break in the third game, but he gave it straight back and from there things became a major battle for the 24-year-old.

Two glorious shots, a backhand pass and a forehand thumped so hard Ferrer simply watched it go by, hinted at better, but largely it was mundane stuff from Murray, who missed a chance to break in the ninth game by playing too safe. That quickly came back to haunt him as, with his first serve having one of its unreliable days, he miscued a forehand on Ferrer’s second set point.

Murray had looked increasingly uncomfortable, clutching at his leg on various occasions and, between sets, he received lengthy treatment. Initially this seemed to have affected Ferrer more and a sloppy game gave the Scot an immediate break at the start of the second set, but again he could not hold on to his advantage, and so the pattern continued.

Having saved break points to level at 3-3, Murray then broke once more with one of his best games of the match, only to give it back with a double-fault. And when he served to stay in the match for the second time, his resistance was broken.