• ATP World Tour Finals

Murray comes unstuck against dogged Ferrer

Andy Murray © Getty Images

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Andy Murray failed to hit the ground running at the ATP World Tour Finals, slumping to defeat in straight sets to a stubborn David Ferrer.

Having seen rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal taken to three sets in their respective openers in London's O2 Arena on Sunday, Murray failed to replicate a battling victory as he suffered a 6-4 7-5 defeat at the hands of the world No. 5.

Ferrer, a finalist at the event in 2007, had never beaten Murray in five previous meetings on hard courts, but the Spaniard chased every point and harried the Scot into submission as he opened his campaign with an unexpected win.

Murray, who had lost just one match since the US Open coming into the year-ending championships, has been told he needs to be more aggressive if he wants to claim that elusive first grand slam.

With only the world's top eight players in action, the British No. 1 has admitted he could not afford to play his way into the event, and he started his opening round-robin match with real intent, dominating the early rallies but was unable to find the killer blow as Ferrer held to love, thanks to a backhand that sailed long.

Murray soon began to hit his stride as he held serve, before sending his opponent scurrying around the court as the Scot dictated the rallies, claiming first blood with an early break. But with the hard work done, a lapse in concentration let the Spaniard back in - a series of unforced errors handing Ferrer three break points, which the world No. 5 gratefully accepted.

Faced with losing three games on the bounce, Murray dug deep, chasing every point to produce a superb cross-court backhand winner to hold serve. The British No. 1 had a sniff of a chance to forge ahead once again, but it was Ferrer who grabbed the crucial break, as Murray hit a wild forehand to hand Ferrer the opening set.

Murray immediately signalled for the trainer, and received lengthy treatment on his left groin. With the crowd in the O2 Arena fearing the worst, Murray started the second set in similar vein as the opener, grabbing an early break.

But Murray was left to rue his inability to make the most of his chances, and after battling back to deuce after Ferrer was 40-0 on serve, the Spaniard hung on to get on the board, before Murray sent a smash wide to once again let Ferrer back into the set.

Ferrer produced back-to-back aces to hold serve to continue to pile the pressure on Murray, who saved two break points to keep himself in the match. The Scot produced his best tennis of the match to grab the break, but once again, he could not hang onto his advantage as a double fault let Ferrer back into the set.

Murray produced flashes of brilliance, but he was left to rue an inconsistent performance featuring 44 unforced errors as Ferrer grabbed the win, dispatching a cross-court backhand winner as Murray failed to hold serve to force a second-set tiebreak.

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