Murray starts ATP World Tour Finals as he means to go on
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Andy Murray evidently enjoys life as world number one, with the Brit easing to a 6-3 6-2 win over Marin Cilic in his first match at the top of the rankings.
The Scot, who finally ousted Djokovic during last week’s Paris Masters, is favourite to claim the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London at 5/4.
And his comfortable win over world number seven Cilic will have added confidence to those who have already backed the 29-year-old.
Murray’s straight sets win to begin his ATP World Tour Finals campaign was quite the contrast with main rival Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian had to fight back from a first set loss to defeat Dominic Thiem on Sunday, in the latest indicator of how out of sorts Djokovic has become.
But with a 23-0 record against his opponents in the Ivan Lendl group, it’s no surprise Djoko holds second favouritism for outright success at 11/8.
Murray is 1/3 to top the John McEnroe group, and next up for the two-time Wimbledon and Olympic champion is Kei Nishikori.
The Japanese ace swept past Stan Wawrinka, but Murray dominates the H2H records 7-2.
It’s 8/11 Murray prevails in just two sets, with 3-1 on a three-set success.
Nishikori did knock the new world number one out of the US Open this year, so many may be swayed by the 11/2 on a 2-1 result in the Japan star’s favour.
But that loss at Flushing Meadows was the last time Murray lost a match. 20 wins later, he’s become almost impossible to defeat.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
