Murray survives match point to beat Raonic at ATP finals

The world number one will take on his Canadian rival for the sixth time this year and third time in the capital.

He will play the victor of the Djokovic – Kei Nishikori match-up and, after the contest, Great Britain’s Davis Cup hero admitted that he is nearly running on empty. Murray’s lone win came in the championship round of the Rome Masters.

Now he has clinched the year-end top spot for the first time with Soares, a few days before Andy can match him and confirm he is the top dog in men’s tennis. Murray has 11,185 points while Djokovic has 10,780 points. The weekend in London at the 02 Arena provides Raonic an opportunity to avenge his loss at the Grand Slam event. In June, he was up a set and a break in the grass court final at the Queen’s Club tournament in London before losing that match in three sets.

It was a gruelling battle and Murray just about clung on at times before springing forward and breaking to love to lead 5-4.

Andy Murray and Milos Raonic went the distance in their semifinal match at the ATP finals in London on Saturday, with Murray prevailing 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9). He also scored more routine straight-set scalps of Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka. He also had to save a match point after failing to convert three of his own in the deciding tiebreaker.

World number two Novak Djokovic, seeking to regain the top ranking from Murray, takes on Japan s Kei Nishikori on the other last four clash.

Now Djokovic has a date with another tired adversary-and with history. When he’s at his best he’s unplayable, but I played a solid match. “The one thing I might have going in my favour is how much he has on his shoulders right now (the burden of being No. 1), a lot of consecutive matches, and what he’s playing for”, he added in reference to Murray bidding to end the year as World No.1. That is something we should all be conscious of. “A lot of things were hard today, but mentally I’m proud of the way I finished”.

When it was pointed out to him that he has not had to play Djokovic during his unbeaten run, Murray said: “You can only beat the players that are in front of you”.

“You never know how you are going to start, but I started off very well”.

“There s a good chance that, if I want to win the tournament, I would have to win against Novak”. I’ll just give my best of what I’ve got tomorrow.

If he hopes to continue that streak, Raonic will need to knock out Murray in front of a partisan crowd of 18,000 fans at the O2 Arena on Saturday. But now he is running into the most hard of opponents under the toughest of circumstances. If both players lose to their respective semifinals matches, Murray will be the victor.