Murray marches on as Federer sent packing

Source: Agencies  |   2008-11-15  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

BRITAIN'S Andy Murray ousted defending champion Roger Federer from the Masters Cup, rallying for a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory yesterday.

Federer, a four-time winner of the season-ending tournament, appeared to be bothered in the third set by the sore back that forced him to withdraw during the Paris Masters two weeks ago. The Swiss star received treatment three times yesterday but refused to quit.

Federer saved seven match points while serving at 4-5, before Murray converted two games later, breaking when Federer sent a forehand long.

"A win over Roger Federer means almost as much as winning the Masters Cup to me," Murray said. "He's the best player of all time. He's still playing great. I know I'm going to be tired tomorrow, but this match meant a lot to me."

Murray will play Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals. Federer's loss allowed France's Gilles Simon to advance. He will meet Serbia's Novak Djokovic. Simon beat Czech Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-4 in an earlier match.

The ninth game of the third set lasted 17 minutes and went to deuce 10 times. Federer fended off the last of the seven match points with an ace, then blasted another before Murray sent a forehand long.

"When you play against Roger, you got to expect him to play some great stuff, especially when he's behind," Murray said. "He hit a couple of aces, a couple of big forehands. I missed a couple of returns I maybe shouldn't have."

Federer tried to force a tiebreaker, but with the match clock reaching 3 hours, he committed three forehand errors while serving at 15-15.

Murray, who came in as one of the few players with a winning record against Federer at 3-2, already had clinched a semifinal spot from the Red Group. But he lived up to his promise not to take it easy, wanting to avoid the prospect of facing Federer again if both were to make the final. The Swiss was trying to repeat last year's feat of coming back after losing his opening match.

Qizhong stadium was packed, and while the crowd overwhelmingly favored Federer, Murray has won over a lot of fans in his debut here.