Murray 'Serves' Himself a Loss

British Number 1, Andy Murray, served horribly, something even he acknowledged, in his Tuesday night loss to world number 1, Roger Federer. With eight double faults, some at crucial stages of the match, the Briton literally 'served' himself a loss.

The win for Federer, however, meant that he has secured his year ending number 1 position. With enough ranking points under his belt, the Swiss star ensured that the Number 2 Rafa Nadal stays behind him at the number 2 spot, when the final ranking of the year are out. Though the match went to three sets, Murray's serving ensured a win for Roger, in otherwise what might have been a tough contest. With the home crowd supporting Murray, there was every chance for him to defeat Federer, something that he will feel he missed out on. Federer, on the other hand, was elated at not only winning the match, but also reclaiming the year ending number 1 spot. Calling it a "wonderful feeling" and "one of my big goals for this season. It's one of the greatest performances I think I've achieved", Federer also said that he will play as hard as possible in Thursday's encounter with del Potro.

FedEx has now won 2 of his 3 round robin matches, and will face US Open winner Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday. There should be incentive enough for Federer to win, as a win will not only avenge his US Open defeat to del Potro, but will also make sure that he advances to the semi-final round of the ATP Tour Finals. A loss, on the other hand, might see him being eliminated from the tournament, something that he will not want.

Murray admitted that he served horribly, saying "It was probably the most double faults I served in a match maybe this year in the first set... I served pants." He went on to say that his loss was due to the fact that he made more mistakes than normal. He also alluded that not recovering fully from earlier injuries might have played some part in him losing. In spite of all the comments before a home crowd, one can't take the win away from Federer, who played consistent, if not great tennis.

In the other singles result of the day, US Open Champion Juan Martin del Potro defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in a three set thriller that went to the tie break in the last set.

In Wednesday's matches, world number 2 Rafael Nadal takes on Nikolay Davyedenko, while favorite Novak Djokovic takes on Robin Soderling.