Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal produced emphatic responses to the critics as they kicked off their ATP Tour Finals campaigns in dominant fashion on Monday.
Murray silenced the doubters who claimed he was distracted by dreams of Davis Cup glory with a gritty 6-4, 6-4 win over David Ferrer, while Nadal, beset by problems during the worst year of his career, showed he isn’t finished yet with a 6-3, 6-2 thrashing of French Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
Former Wimbledon champion Murray has made it clear his main priority in the closing weeks of the season is Great Britain’s attempt to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936 in their first final since 1978.
Britain face Belgium in the final on clay in Ghent next week and Murray had initially suggested he might pull out of the Tour Finals to fine-tune his preparations for the Davis Cup.
After learning of potential sanctions from the ATP if he withdrew, Murray settled for spending most of last week practising his clay-court game across London at Queen’s Club before arriving at the O2 on Friday.
It was hardly ideal preparation and inevitably Murray’s commitment against Ferrer was under close scrutiny from cynics who doubted whether the he really wanted to risk injury.
But Murray assuaged those worries with a typically whole-hearted 90-minute display to see off Ferrer in his opening group match in the prestigious season-ending event.
Murray’s consistency over the last 11 months brought him to the verge of finishing second in the year-end world rankings for the first time.
