OK it has been quite a while since I last did a post on here but I thought since the Davis cup final is soon upon us then I would do a post on how I think the even could possibly go and also the progress of Andy Murray and Jamie Murray at the ATP world tour finals event at the o2.
So to recap on Andy's progress at the ATP world tour finals well to start off Andy was drawn in the group with Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and David Ferrer. And before the event started it looked like this was the more favourable group for Andy given that Rafa's form has been questionable this year and he dominated them in their previous meeting in Madrid and while Stan was dangerous he could also be flaky form wise.
And Andy got his campaign off to a good start as he beat David Ferrer in straight sets in an entertaining match that saw Andy seal the win 6-4, 6-4. And going into his match with Rafa, Andy looked to be the favourite although Rafa in recent weeks has recovered some of his old form. And in their match we saw the Rafa of old re-emerge as the Spaniard whitewashed a surprisingly lacklustre Andy in straight sets 6-4, 6-1. And this match appeared to raise a few questions over Andy's form and commitment to the tournament with maybe the Davis cup final prying on his mind (or maybe not). However the match itself signified that Rafa is back and getting that closer to finding his best form.
So with Rafa having won his first two matches, beating Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray, he qualified for the semi finals of the o2. And this left Andy having to fight it out against Stan who beat Ferrer in straight sets to keep himself alive. And the match between Andy and Stan proved to be somewhat more competitive than his Rafa match with Andy going a break down in the 1st set at 5-3 but he broke back but ultimately lost the set on a tiebreak. And in the 2nd set Andy dropped serve straight off to Stan and later he went another break down before Andy managed to fight back to make it 5-4 with Stan serving for the match, Andy had some break point opportunities but in the end couldn't take them and Stan finally sealed the match to knock Andy out of the tournament with a 7-6, 6-4 win.
As for Jamie Murray, well he also suffered a similar fate to Andy at the o2 after having won his first match with doubles partner, John Peers, they took on the Bryan brothers for a semi final place. And both Jamie and Peers had their chances with several match points in the champion tiebreak but they were unfortunately able to put away the Bryans who fought back from a set down to win the match 6-7, 7-6, 14-12. And this saw Jamie and John both knocked out of the o2 aswell.
So it has to be said that the o2 was a pretty disappointing event for Andy this year as well as Jamie, especially given it was the first time Jamie had qualified for the tournament. It was also an indication that Andy was put in a position where he had to play the event under pressure from the ATP despite having secured Great Britain's place in the final, the ATP chairman, Chris Kermode, picked up on a comment made by Andy shortly after he secured the final spot that he may have to miss the tournament in order to prep for the event on clay. And there was also plenty of time that passed in between then and the o2 where Andy had to make a decision and he finally decided that he would play both events. And this meant that Andy had to play a delicate balancing act switching between practice on the two different surfaces hard court and clay prior to playing the ATP WTF at the o2.
And I think as a result of that Andy wasn't given enough time to prep for the o2 given that he had to practice for four days on clay just before the weekend leading up to the event itself, it was a tough balancing act. Admittedly Roger Federer also was put in a similar position last year before he went on to seal victory for Switzerland and he was forced to withdraw from the o2 after his gruelling match against Stan Wawrinka and he too had to practice on clay in between the tour hard court events. And the fact that Andy has had a very similar path to Roger last year might act as some sort of omen for Great Britain's chances next week but whether or not they will pan out or not remains to be seen.
So for me Andy's exit from the o2 is far from surprising and its a pity that he wasn't able to simply skip the event in the first place given the once in a lifetime opportunity he has of securing the Davis cup title for his country. And it shows again that the ATP's demands were also somewhat unfair given that Andy already bailed them out last year when Roger Federer withdrew from the final he turned up to play an exhibition event with Novak Djokovic and also John McEnroe. And I almost feel like that as Andy has fully honoured his commitment to the o2 event that they should owe him a favour in return! (well not really but you get what I mean). But just maybe Andy's exit from the tournament will be a blessing in disguise.
But anyway as for the Davis cup final next week itself its going to be an interesting one as the GB team will travel to Ghent in Belgium for the event and the tournament final itself kicks off on Friday 27 November.
As for how it will pan out???? Well its hard to say exactly although I would still pick Great Britain as the favourites for the title given that they have Andy and Jamie Murray who have been such an effective team together in the last two ties. But the fact that Belgium have home advantage could well work in their own favour and the singles players David Goffin and Steve Darcis are both very good players, particularly as Goffin is a top 20 player and should they win one of their reverse singles rubbers on the first day and if they win the doubles then they will have the upper hand.
Also given that while the GB team have good back up singles players in James Ward and Kyle Edmund, they might not be good enough against the home favourites Goffin and Darcis and that the enormity of the ocassion might also cause them to fold under pressure. So if it does come down to a final rubber between GB and Belgium's No.2 players, its going to be hard to side with GB in this instance. However its worth noting that the Belgium team did not fair well in the doubles in their last two ties and they won them in the singles matches. And should Andy win his reverse singles match on day one and win the doubles with Jamie on the second day then he sure to be the favourite against David Goffin on the final day, but to be honest we won't know how it will pan out until play is under way. What is certain though is that the doubles rubber will be vital for both teams as which ever team wins it will surely go on to win the tie and the title with it.
However one thing we can be sure of is Andy Murray's unwavering commitment to the Davis cup team and if there was any concerns about his full commitment to the ATP world tour finals there will be none whatsoever next week in Ghent. So I think even if Andy has (and I'm sure he will) have sloppy moments of play in his matches, he will give his all and fight until the last point to try and ensure that he wins the title. And if Andy does then he will join his old pal Fred Perry once again in being the first man since Fred to have secured the Davis cup title for Great Britain and that would almost certainly be the cherry on top of cake of what has been a pretty sweet year for Andy all round (sorry bad pun!).
Sooooo my prediction for the final as far as I see it is that Great Britain will win the title 3-1 as I think Belgium can definitely level proceedings on day 1 but hopefully on day 2, I think Andy and Jamie will win the doubles tie and if they do then Andy will be more than a match for Goffin on the final day. Buttttttttt we will just have to wait and see how it pans out and can only hope that Andy, Jamie, James and Kyle can all pitch in and play their part to win the title that has eluded Great Britain for 79 years. And while the ATP world tour finals is a prestiguous tour event, for Andy Murray winning the Davis cup surely will mean much more.
Anyway so that's it for now and I will be back next week (with baited breath!) once the Davis cup final weekend is under way.
However (update on 23.11.15) there are still concerns in Belgium as Brussels was put on maximum alert due to the possible risk of a terrorist attack in the aftermath of the Paris attacks (as several of the terrorists involved in the attacks in Paris were from Brussels) which potentially could mean the tie might not go ahead given that Ghent is quite close to Brussels (only 35 miles away). But the Flemish Tennis Association so far have stated that they intend to go ahead with the tie and hopefully it will as it would be great pity for both teams to miss out on their opportunity to win. However safety does come first and if it is to be postponed well there's not much that can be done but let's just hope things do go ahead without any incident.
Until the next one bye for now!
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