Andy Murray meets Stan Wawrinka in Group John McEnroe at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, with both hoping to qualify for tomorrow's semi-finals. Just down the Thames from the security services' riverside headquarters, Murray is showing all the mental fortitude and resilience of an MI5 operative. In the last days of the tennis year, Murray's willpower isn't in doubt. Anyone who watched Murray's victory over Nishikori on Wednesday - all three hours and 20 minutes of it - can't possibly have any concerns about the Briton's mind. He can be excused a few sarcastic reactions to his errors as his mind never wandered off from what he needed to be doing. But what isn't clear is how Murray's body...
Andy Murray dug deep to fight past Kei Nishikori 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to improve to a 2-0 record in Group John McEnroe at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The British favourite extended his winning streak to 21 matches and also stayed in the battle to hold off Novak Djokovic for the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Murray now has 11,585 points in the Emirates ATP Rankings, 405 points ahead of No. 2-ranked and fellow 29-year-old Djokovic (11,180 points). The Scot improved to an 8-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Nishikori, with victory in three hours and 21 minutes - the longest best-of-three-sets match at the year-end championships (since 1991, when records were first kept)....
Seven set points saved. Eighty-five minutes of all-out effort. One memorable set of tennis at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London on Wednesday afternoon.
Kei Nishikori and Andy Murray produced one of the best opening sets of the season as both players fought off set points with gutsy tennis at The O2.
Murray fell behind 3/6 in the tie-break and had to expend every ounce of hustle to erase another set point at 5/6.
Next, it was Nishikori's turn to save a set point. At 8/9, the Japanese looked to have a gimme shot as he waltzed up to the net for an easy overhead. But Murray again showed extraordinary hustle.
Watch Kei Nishikori save a set point against Andy Murray with a smash during their grueling first-set tie-break on Wednesday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.