Andy Murray faces a tough task to reach the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Murray is in Group A along with Roger Federer, new US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro and Fernando Verdasco who beat him at the Australian Open.
Federer will be eyeing the chance for revenge over Murray after the Scot sent him crashing out in the group stages in Shanghai last year. There’s a lot at stake for the Swiss this week with Rafael Nadal closing in again on Federer’s coveted world number one spot.
Murray is expecting no easy matches, "In my group Federer is the best in the world, Del Potro has won the US Open and Verdasco has just had his best season to date. At the end of your career you're remembered for Grand Slams, but to win something like this, you have to beat five of the best players in the world in consecutive matches if you want to lift the trophy which is a very difficult thing to do.”
"You might even have to beat a Federer or a Nadal twice, so it's a very tough thing to win."
The end of season shootout between the top eight in the world is always a hotly anticipated spectacle but you wonder how long it will remain in it’s current position in the calendar, so late in the year. It leaves the best players with precious little chance for a break before the rigours of off season training ahead of the Australian Open.
There is surely a strong case for shortening the season by a few weeks and have the World Tour Finals at the end of October to reduce the toll on the players.
There have been growing complaints about the length of the season from all of the world’s elite in the past few years and with Nadal and Roddick missing last year’s Masters Cup through injury and Roddick being forced out again this year, they have a strong case.
Murray explained just how tough his schedule is to the press earlier today. “As soon as the O2 is finished, I have just four or five days off before I go out to Miami to train in warm conditions," he said. "It's a long year, tough for all the players and the more matches you play, the tougher it gets.
