Written by Staff Writer
Here’s what you need to know about Wednesday’s ATP World Tour Finals and the event at the O2 Arena in London:
With a record 34 titles under his belt, British tennis star Andy Murray still believes he has the drive to reclaim his mantle as the world’s best, despite moving into the third round of the ATP World Tour Finals after his defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas, one of the emerging stars of the sport.
Speaking in a rare press conference after his defeat, the 31-year-old said Tsitsipas’s style was “a little bit to the fore” when he lost in straight sets on Tuesday, though he was buoyed by the Greek’s powerful serve and game-changing contributions.
‘Trying to win without making too many mistakes’
“He just played really well,” Murray said. “Every time he put himself in a position he played really well.
“He was just very solid, you know, very solid with his serve. He was quite big and very strong with his forehand and he played some good service games. He made a lot of long rallies and a lot of it was just trying to win without making too many mistakes.”
After winning Wimbledon and winning Olympic gold at the London Games last year, Murray made a superb start in 2017, embarking on an historic 22-match winning streak and winning the first two titles of his career in the Brisbane and Miami hardcourt tournaments.
But a fluctuating 2017 season has seen him make plenty of errors and the out-of-sorts world number four has given himself little time to recuperate following a gruelling season.
His girlfriend Kim Sears didn’t join him in London, and with another player already progressing to the second round, the Scot admits it could have been a more difficult week for him had he been joined by his partner.
“Probably, yeah,” he said when asked if he had a mixed feeling about leaving her back home. “She’s been with me for five years now, basically, and she was in Shanghai the day before I was in Sydney (for a tournament earlier this month), so I guess I was already missing her.”
While Murray recovered from the disappointment of his defeat to Tsitsipas, he will next face Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the third round of the season-ending event.