Nadal beats Murray to reach last four at ATP Finals

In what was a first for fans, viewers, announcers and perhaps top-two players, Andy Murray gave himself a mid-match haircut on Wednesday, during his second-leg match against Rafael Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Murray won 10 per cent of points on his second serve in the second set, and a nine-point losing streak virtually sealed his fate.

Swiss star Stanislas Wawrinka cruised to a 7-5, 6-2 victory at the World Tour Finals over Spaniard David Ferrer, who was eliminated from tennis’ year-end tournament with the loss.

Nadal could secure a semi-final spot later today depending on the result of the evening match between Ferrer and Wawrinka.

Wawrinka, a semi-finalist at this venue each of the last two seasons, has captured two Grand Slam titles since then, to move level with Murray’s tally, but in truth his game is more unpredictable than the Scot’s.

Murray will still advance to the last four should he beat Wawrinka in his last group match on Friday. “I am playing more inside [the baseline], I am working hard to make that happen”.

“If I hadn’t played in London, I would have gone into the Davis Cup final without any matches for several weeks, and even though the surface is different, taking on the best players in the world must be great preparation for such a big event”.

Murray was asked about the Paris attacks on Monday, and whether he was scared to go to Belgium at the end of the month to play in the Davis Cup final.

Wawrinka kept his hopes of advancing alive with a fourth straight victory over Ferrer, who at 33 is the second oldest player in the field to the 34-year-old Federer.

“I feel free”, Nadal said.

Murray had four double-faults in the match-up and was just 22 of 51 on his first serves. “It was like the low 40s, and in the second set like 35 per cent. Yeah, that’s not good enough against someone as good as Rafa”.

“I had some hair in my eye, and I just wanted to get rid of it”, he said. The Spaniard grabbed a crucial break in the fourth game and looked set to cruise to the opening set.

The head to head is 15-6 in Nadal’s favour, however Murray has won their most recent match in Madrid 6-3 6-2.

Nadal hit 55% backhands and 45% forehands for the match, which is extremely uncharacteristic from the former World No. 1.