Andy Murray lost in the second round to South African Kevin Anderson. However, the following week, he won the 2011 Western & Southern Open after Novak Djokovic retired due to injury. At the 2011 US Open, Murray battled from two sets down to win a five-set second-round encounter with Robin Haase, but lost in the semi-finals to Rafael Nadal in four sets. Murray easily won the small 250-class Thailand Open, and the following week he won his third title in four tournaments at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. His opponent in the final was Rafael Nadal, whom he beat for the
2014 Andy Murray tennis season in straight sets. His run was ended in third round by David Ferrer, as the fifth seed recovered from a set down to beat Murray in three sets. In an attempt to qualify for the World Tour Finals, Murray took a wild card into the Vienna Open. He defeated Vasek Pospisil in straight sets after receiving a first round bye to reach the quarter-final. More straight sets wins over Jan-Lennard Struff and Viktor Troicki followed as Murray reached the final. He once again faced David Ferrer, and triumphed in three sets for his second title of the season, and the