Andy Murray seeks improvement for Stan Wawrinka decider at World Tour Finals

Murray, who beat Spaniard Ferrer in his opener, faded badly in the second set after Nadal finally broke serve decisively in the 10th game having wasted several earlier opportunities.

Three chances slipped away but victory was in their grasp on the fourth as Peers pulled his racquet back for what appeared an easy putaway – only to blast a forehand long.

Nadal and Murray are friendly rivals and the Mallorcan, a man with his own form for hair adjustments, couldn’t resist making his own contribution on the issue of the mid-match haircut. “I’ll look forward to that match”.

“I had a few hair in my eye, and I just wanted to get rid of it”, he said. I was starting to drop the ball shorter. I didn’t quite get over the top of the ball unfortunately.

“I probably should have put one back through him, but that’s tennis, and unfortunately it happens”. Unsettled by dropping the opener – and perhaps distracted, if only slightly, by Great Britain’s upcoming Davis Cup final against Belgium that starts November 27 – Murray wilted in the second. Murray won the last match-up between the two rivals, which was during the finals of the 2015 Madrid Open, 6-3 6-2, earlier this year.

“I think he always is at the big events. Hopefully we can keep the success we’ve had this year”.

Swiss star Wawrinka showed fighting spirit as he rallied to beat Ferrer 7-5 6-2 in London.

ANDY Murray blamed his errant serving and not a bad hair day for his 6-4, 6-1 defeat to Rafa Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Triple defending champion Djokovic on a 23-match winning streak suffered his first defeat since losing to Federer in the Cincinnati final on August 23.

For Nadal, his play so far at the tournament has been a continuation of his late season improvement during a year in which he has lost 19 times – a staggering number for him.

“I’m just happy the way that I played today, happy the way I was working”, Nadal told reporters.

The Spaniard comfortably dispatched Stan Wawrinka in his first match at the O2 Arena on Monday night, and it was more of the same against Murray on Wednesday afternoon. Ferrer’s impressive court coverage continued and though he successfully served to stay in the tournament, he was powerless to prevent Wawrinka powering to victory from his third match point which propels new impetus into his campaign. With Ferrer struggling, Wawrinka pushed on, breaking again to take a 4-1 lead in the second set. The set lasted just over half-an-hour.