Federer sympathizes with Murray, but says Potro deserved to go through

Federer sympathizes with Murray, but says Potro deserved to go throughLondon, Nov 28 : Tennis star Roger Federer has said that World No. 5 Del Potro deserved to go through for the final stages of the World Tour Finals.

Potro was controversially given the green signal for the end-of-season event, which eliminated World No 3 and local favourite Andy Murray.

Murray became only the fifth player since 1970 to win two matches, but fail to make the semis.

There was mass confusion among the 17,500 crowd at the O2 as they were unaware of who had progressed - and even the players didn''t have a clue.

“Del Potro beat the No 1 player in the world, in the group, and I guess he deserves to go through. There''s only two places and that''s the way it is. Rules are rules,” Federer said.

“Sure, it''s confusing. I asked Juan Martin myself at the end. He said ''I don''t think I have got through''. So, that''s the story I got. Of course you feel sorry for the guy who didn''t make it,” he added.

Federer further said that the World Tour Finals is a prestigious tournament, but has a very mystifying procedure, as a player is not sure of his standing at any point of time.

“You cannot imagine that we all play three matches and it comes down to a couple of games. If Andy had held one more of his service games, he would have gone through. The system is the way it is. The only thing important for me was that I knew I had to win a set against Del Potro and I was through,” Fedrer said.

“The rest you block out because you don''t want to lose to fellow rivals. It''s not something I enjoy, to be honest. A lot of money and a lot of ranking points are on the line,” he added. (ANI)