VIENNA
In Sunday’s blockbuster final at the Erste Bank Open the tournament’s two top-seeds as well as ATP World Tour Final contenders, David Ferrer and Andy Murray, faced each other for the title. It was the first time that two wild cards contested an ATP World Tour Final since s’Hertogenbosch in 2004 when Michael Llodra defeated Guillermo Coria.
Ferrer advanced to his fourth final of the season defeating Tobias Kamke, Ivo Karlovic and Philipp Kohlschreiber on Saturday in the longest match of the tournament so far. Murray, who made his Vienna debut, reached the final without dropping a set beating Vasek Pospisil, Jan-Lennard Struff and Viktor Troicki.
David Ferrer during the final (photo: Emotion/Bildagentur Zolles KG)
Ferrer had the better start into Vienna’s showdown, capitalized on the unforced errors Murray made in the early stage of the encounter by winning the opening set after 64 minutes. Yet, the Scot found his rhythm in the following and took the final the distance. In an even third set with a couple of breaks on both sides, Ferrer couldn’t serve out in the ninth game and suffered the decisive break in the following. After two hours and 41 minutes, Murray kept his nerve, fired an ace at match point and claimed his 30th ATP title, his first on Austrian soil, winning 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.
Andy Murray with good return games in the final (photo: Emotion/Bildagentur Zolles KG)
“It was a tough match with long rallies and long games. Matches against David have never been easy, because he moves and returns well. Mentally the third set wasn’t easy for both of us as we had a lot of ups and downs in our game. Luckily I was more consistent and aggressive at the end,” a happy but also exhausted Murray told afterwards and considered a comeback to Vienna. “I always enjoyed defending my titles. This has already started at the beginning of my career in San José, where I won my very first tournament. Same is valid for St. Petersburg. You prefer returning to a tournament you won than coming back to a spot with bad memories,” the British world number 11 said.
Andy Murray
Ferrer was understandably disappointed but appreciated the great atmosphere in Vienna during this week. “I like this tournament and the centre court. The spectators were great, how they supported all of the players. Of course I’m disappointed but at least I reached another final, that’s positive. In the important moments Andy played more aggressively than me. I wasn’t surprised that he came back in the final set, he has the best return game on the Tour,” the Spaniard analysed. “I still have the chance to qualify for London. There are two more important weeks for me. For sure I prefer winning in London over taking the title at my home tournament in Valencia,” Ferrer added.
David Ferrer
Singles ceremony in Vienna (photo: Emotion/Bildagentur Zolles KG)
Winner and runner-up in Vienna
Andy Murray became the fifth active player capturing 30th ATP titles
Andy Murray Champion in Vienna 2014
Murray will head into the penultimate week of the ATP Race just above cut-off for qualification to London with 3.875 points, 110 points more than Ferrer. Both players will continue their push for a spot at the ATP World Tour Finals at next week’s Valencia Open 500.
In the doubles final between two Austrian-German-tandems former Wimbledon and US Open champions Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner gained their first Tour title since 2011 winning 7-6, 4-6, 10-7 over Andre Begemann and Julian Knowle. “Both of us won the singles title here in Vienna, so we wanted to take the doubles as well. This title is very important to us, as we only had the chance to be in the draw with a wild card,” Melzer told. “This week has been like a comeback for us. It feels like a revival. We both had to cope with a lot of injuries in the past and winning the title in the second tournament we are playing together in over one year is like a dream,” Petzschner added. Julian Knowle suffered another defeat in Vienna and remains uncrowned in Austria’s capital. After 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2013 the Austrian doubles world number 39 lost his fifth final in the Stadthalle.
Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner took the doubles title
Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner were more than happy afterwards
Earlier the day, the final news conference took place in which the organizers were satisfied with the week here in Vienna. “We have been working hard for six years to develop the tournament and we could present top-stars like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Juan-Martin Del Potro in the past. A final with Andy Murray and David Ferrer could also take place at a Masters event or even a Grand Slam. All of the players have always pointed out, how comfortable they felt during their stay here in Vienna. It is an open secret that Stockholm offered more money to Murray but he eventually decided in favour of Vienna,” tournament director Herwig Straka told the press. “In terms of numbers, it was our aim to reach the mark of 50.000 spectators this week and it seems that we are going to meet our goal with today’s final,” Straka added and said that it will be a goal in the long run to establish an ATP 500 event in Austria’s capital in case the numbers of tournaments in this category will be extended.
Tournament director Herwig Straka
