Roger Federer Isn’t Sure How Long He’ll Keep His Beard!

Roger Federer made it three wins out of three in the group stages of the ATP World Tour Finals with a 7-5 4-6 6-4 victory over Kei Nishikori.

The world number two and world number eight produced the O2 Arena’s finest display as the Swiss maestro took out the Japanese number one 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Djokovic would serve the set out and take a break lead immediately in the second set but Berdych responded to break back for 2-all.

Czech Berdych’s only chance of qualifying for the semis was to beat Djokovic in straight sets, although with two wins in 22 matches against him it was always a tall order.

The added complication for Murray is he wants to be in prime shape for next weekend’s Davis Cup final on clay in Belgium and Wawrinka, who was in a similar position past year, feels that could be a factor.

Berdych displayed his appetite for battle while fending off three more break points with his thunderous serve and Djokovic even offered applause after a fizzing forehand from his world No 6 opponent. But Nishikori fought back again, evening the set at 4-4.

“If it itches too much, I’ll take it off. If my girls can’t stand it, I’ll take it off. If I look in the mirror and I don’t like it, I’ll take it off”.

Federer hit a whopping 10 aces during the course of the match, with Nishikori able to muster only 2 in comparison.

“There’s points on the line and prestige, wanting to beat Kei, winning at the O2”.

“He obviously played better than he did when I played him earlier in the year”, said Murray, who produced one of the most eye-catching results of his career by beating Nadal on clay in the final of the Madrid Masters.

Murray and Australian Peers took on defending champions Bob and Mike Bryan in a straight shoot-out for a place in the semi-finals and looked poised for victory at 9-5 in the first-to-10 deciding match tie-break. This is where I wanted to be.

The turning point of the third, perhaps, came in the third game, when Federer dug out of a 0-40 hole to hold for 2-1.

Faced with that sudden barrage, Djokovic responded in typically combative fashion and gradually wore down Berdych, breaking for a 6-5 lead before serving out the win.