Murray opens Tour Finals bid on winning note

Andy Murray marked his first match on home turf since winning the US Open with a gritty 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tomas Berdych in the ATP Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena yesterday. Murray was playing in front of a British audience for the first time since his dramatic final win against Novak Djokovic in New York in September and he rewarded the partisan crowd with a come from behind Group A success to kick off his latest bid to win the season-ending event. The 25-year-old, who has never been past the semifinals of the Tour Finals in four previous attempts, made a slow start against Czech fifth seed Berdych in the tournament’s opening match. But, after failing to convert any of his first 10 break-point chances, Murray finally found his rhythm in the second set and was able to ease to the finish line in just over two hours. Murray is the first British man for 76 years to win a Grand Slam and a maiden triumph at the Tour Finals would be a fitting finale to a remarkable campaign which also including winning the singles gold medal at the London Olympics and reaching a first Wimbledon final. He entered the O2 Arena to a rapturous reception that reflected the British sporting public’s new-found admiration for a player who had previously struggled to win them over. Even the crowd’s energy couldn’t lift Murray at the start. Since his breakthrough in Manhattan, Murray has suffered something of a let-down, losing the Shanghai final to Djokovic despite holding five match-points and then crashing out of the Paris Masters against Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz. He wasted two break points in the first game here before squandering another three in the fifth game. Berdych made the Scot pay for those lapses as he landed the first break for a 4-2 lead after Murray netted a forehand on the run. The Czech had to save two break points as he served for the set before finally taking it on his second set point. Murray was under pressure again at the start of the second set when Berdych earned three break points, but the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up couldn’t deliver the knockout blow. Boosted by that escape, Murray finally converted his first break point at the 11th attempt when Berdych blazed`a forehand long in the fourth game and that proved the turning point. The Scot went on to take the set with ease and made the decisive break in the third game of the final set when Berdych lashed a wild groundstroke way off target. Djokovic played France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the other Group A tie later yesterday. Ferrer to lead Spain in Davis final with Nadal injured Meantime, world No. 5 David Ferrer will lead Spain’s bid to claim their fourth Davis Cup title in five years when the holders take on the Czech Republic in this month’s final in Prague. Fourth-ranked Rafa Nadal is still sidelined with a knee injury so Ferrer, winner of Sunday’s Paris Masters, will spearhead a team that includes Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez. “Ferrer’s leadership has been important in Nadal’s absence despite him saying at the start of the year he was not planning to play,” captain Alex Corretja told a news conference yesterday. “He has accepted the challenge and now we are in the final.” Ferrer, 30, won his first Masters tournament on Sunday as he took his haul of titles this season to a personal best of seven. He is about to make his fourth appearance in a Davis Cup final. Nadal has not played since his shock second-round defeat by Czech Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June. The Spanish team have managed well without the 26-year-old, beating Kazakhstan, Austria and the United States. The Czechs, who overcame Italy, Serbia and Argentina, have a poor record against Spain and were demolished 5-0 by them in the 2009 final. Corretja, however, said the hosts would be the favorites to win on an indoor hardcourt from Nov. 16-18. “We believe they are going to lay a very fast surface,” he explained. “We know it will be tough and that we are not favorites.”