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Federer takes no great delight in murray thrashing

LONDON — Magnanimous in victory, Roger Federer told reporters he was happy to have lost the penultimate game of Thursday night’s (yesterday morning, Singapore time) match at the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena and thus spared Andy Murray the first double-bagel of his senior career.

LONDON — Magnanimous in victory, Roger Federer told reporters he was happy to have lost the penultimate game of Thursday night’s (yesterday morning, Singapore time) match at the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena and thus spared Andy Murray the first double-bagel of his senior career.

As the World No 2 scorched to a 6-0, 6-1 victory in only 56 minutes, there was much discussion about how much he might be enjoying this joyride against an old and often challenging rival.

Yet, the man stressed that his main feeling towards the end of the match, especially after sealing his place in the semi-finals by winning the first set, was one of discomfort. Asked how it felt to be leading the world No 6 by a 6-0, 5-0 scoreline, Federer replied: “Not so cool, because I wouldn’t want to be in that position. I was happy to get it done. At the end, I was happy I didn’t win the second-to-last game.”

As for Murray’s outlook after this chastening night, Federer, who had also struggled to rebuild his game after recovering from back trouble, tried to offer some words of encouragement. “There’s just that little bit of doubt maybe that you need to play unbelievably well and the other guy you hope doesn’t play his best. Only then maybe you can get it done,” he said.

“Maybe he has those kind of confidence issues. I went through exactly the same last year.

“So, I think the off-season is going to be big for Andy. I’m confident for him that next year, he’s going to be much more solid throughout, he’s going to be happier in the process and he’s going to be playing better tennis.” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

TV Times: The ATP World Tour Finals are on StarHub TV Ch 201 at 10pm today and 4am on Sunday.

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