With Federer’s sweep of Group B beating Robin Soderling in straight sets, Roger Federer made Andy Murray’s life much easier. A victory by Andy Murray would guarantee a semifinal berth.
Murray didn’t even need to win. Since both Soderling and Ferrer lost their two matches in straight sets, he would finish ahead of both by winning a set off of Ferrer.
Ferrer’s a tough scrappy opponent, but he lacks a big serve and he doesn’t hit super hard off the ground. He is quick, which is why he wins so much. He gets to lots of balls and if your timing is off, you can lose to him. But, he can be overpowered as well.
Ferrer entered the third match much like Nadal did last year at this time: without having won a set. Even so, Ferrer started with an opening break and it looked like Murray’s game had continued from his loss to Federer, or possibly worse. But in a blink, Murray found his game, broke back then broke back twice again and took the first set, 6-2. He again took control of the second set with two breaks and by the end, Ferrer seemed ready for a vacation.
With this, Federer wins Group B and Murray is runner-up. This means Federer will play number 2 in Group A and Murray will play number 1. It’s not entirely clear who this will be. The likely semifinalists are Rafa and Novak. In that case, there will be a repeat match-up of Toronto with Federer playing Djokovic and Rafa playing Andy. Andy Roddick still has an outside shot of making it, which would involve a straight set win on his part and a straight set win for Nadal over Berdych. Berdych could also make it if he wins and Djokovic loses, in which case Rafa and Berdych would represent Group A. Indeed, Berdych could actually win Group A if he beats Rafa in straight sets (since Rafa lost a set to Roddick).
This makes Friday’s matches pretty intriguing!