Murray Closes in on ATP World Tour Finals Spot After Rout of Benneteau
Andy Murray defeated Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4 in the second-round of the BNP Paribas Masters on Wednesday, moving him within one win of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Murray entered the Paris tournament this week needing a trip to the quarterfinals to qualify for year-end finals. The win over Benneteau moves him into the third-round and a matchup with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
If the eighth-seeded Scot can get past Dimitrov, he will secure a spot in London.
“I don’t know exactly what I’m going to think tomorrow, but I would hope it wouldn’t be an issue in the match,” said Murray of his opportunity to qualify tomorrow. “If anything, I would hope it would give me some extra motivation.”
Murray’s serve was extremely effective on Wednesday. He won 75 percent of points on all of his serves, and lost just four points on serve overall. His return game was evident also as he converted all three of his break point opportunities on his way to the 71-minute victory.
He now takes on Dimitrov who cruised past Pablo Cuevas 6-0, 6-3 in his second-round match and has already beaten Murray twice this year. The Bulgarian is still in the hunt for a spot in London, but will need to reach the semifinals in Paris this week to even have a chance.
“[Dimitrov] still has a decent chance at getting into London, so he’d be pretty motivated,” said Murray. “It will be a good match for both of us.”
Also advancing into the third-round on Wednesday was fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, who upended resurgent Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Despite hitting no aces and far fewer winners than Goffin, Ferrer was able to use a solid return game which included three break points in the final set.
The win bumps Ferrer to ninth in the Race to London standings, just ahead of Canadian Milos Raonic who, despite defeating Jack Sock today, drops to 10th.
Ferrer will take on fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the third-round. Verdasco knocked off 15th seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on Wednesday.
