Nishikori recovers to see off Berdych

Andy Murray has made a successful start to his ATP World Tour Finals campaign after a 6-4 6-4 victory over David Ferrer at the O2 in London. If Murray wins he’ll also clinch the year-end No. 2 ranking for the first time in his career.

An increasingly-confident Murray piled on the pressure and Ferrer again buckled at 4-5 with Murray completing victory with a volley into an open court.

It is the start of two huge weeks for Murray, culminating in the Davis Cup final between Great Britain and Belgium in Ghent.

The Scot has not lost a match in which he has won the opening set since a clash with Ferrer in Shanghai last October, so the omens were good. “But then immediately I was playing well”, Nadal told reporters.

Since then, Djokovic has won 22 consecutive matches – picking up the US Open as well as Masters titles in Shanghai and Paris.

The world No 1 oozed confidence as he talked about his display, saying: “I think I was at my best”. Berdych was unable to get the break back straight away as Federer had done to him in the first set as the Swiss player consolidated the break by serving it out to love.

“I focused more on beating (Tomas) Berdych and (Kei) Nishikori and let’s see what happens against Novak”. “He didn’t serve as well as he can, which helped me, and I played a little bit more solid at the end of both sets which helped me get the win”.

While it earned world number eight Nishikori another $167,000, the reward for a group win, it is likely to prove in vain unless he beats Federer in his final match and Berdych defeats Djokovic.

Unaffected by that sombre opening, Djokovic set about dismantling Nishikori in typically relentless fashion and landed the first blow with a break in the second game. He served very well, and controled points with a few nice combination of drop shots, slice backhand and forehands, making Berdych running from one side of the court to another.

“Well, I think everybody right now is concerned about things”, said Murray.

With two more group ties remaining against six-time champion Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych, who were scheduled to meet later on Sunday, Djokovic’s stroll by the banks of the River Thames was a significant statement of intent to his rivals for the title.

Novak Djokovic has never led Roger Federer in their head-to-head but expect that to finally change this evening at the World Tour Finals.

A hard-fought set swung Federer’s way when an error-strewn service game from Berdych gifted him a decisive second break at 4-4. The Swiss player knows that win or lose he should still qualify in second place and with it he would progress to the next stage of the tournament.

In the early match, Nishikori’s 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Berdych came down to one point.

Although Ferrer broke to open the second set in the following game, Murray slowly fought back as Ferrer continued to struggle to get the ball in play.