Nadal surges past Murray at ATP World Tour Finals

Roger Federer picked up his third win in the round robin stage of the Stan Smith group of the ATP World Tour Finals when he fought off a determined Kei Nishikori to win 7-5 4-6 6-4 at the O2 Arena in London.

The Spaniard described as “important” the victory against the highest-ranked player he has beaten since the 2014 French Open, having opened the tournament with an impressive straight sets defeat of world No. 4 Wawrinka.

Murray, who won his opening match over Ferrer and is trying to finish the year with the No. 2 overall ranking, broke Nadal’s serve to open the match. “This year I have just been anxious about how to hit the ball to not miss rather than try to hit the ball where I need to hit it to damage the opponent or compete”, he said.

The 28-year-old said: “I don’t know why such minor things make such a big deal to you guys”.

Murray had four double-faults in the match-up and was just 22 of 51 on his first serves. He broke Murray in the second game and framed it with a couple of holds of serve to build a commanding 3-0 lead.

The Spanish fifth seed was dominant as the British world number two’s game fell apart in front of a home crowd at the 17,800-capacity venue. “I had a few hair in my eye, and I wanted to get rid of it. It literally took two seconds”. Immediately after his tournament, Andy and his brother Jamie fly out to Belgium to attempt to bring the Davis Cup back to Britain for the first time since 1936. But I didn’t really help myself.

That result means Nadal has won the group following his 6-4 6-1 victory over Murray earlier, and the victor of the clash between the Scot and Wawrinka on Friday will qualify for the last four in second place.

Murray agreed. “He obviously played better today than he did when I played him earlier in the year”, Murray said.

The Spaniard’s spot in the semis was confirmed after seventh-seeded compatriot David Ferrer’s hopes of making it out of the group evaporated with a straight sets defeat to Wawrinka – 7-5, 6-2.

In a weird display, UK’s number one Andy Murray has given himself a haircut in between games at the ATP World Tour finals.

Nadal hit 55% backhands and 45% forehands for the match, which is extremely uncharacteristic from the former World No. 1. I was starting to drop the ball shorter.

The 30-year-old Swiss clinched the set after another service break and then used his superior firepower to take full control of the second set, rolling to victory despite 15 unforced errors over the final eight games and 35 for the match.