Andy Murray faces a shoot-out with Stan Wawrinka for a semi-final place in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 on Friday.
Murray was beaten 6-4,6-1 by Rafael Nadal yesterday which means the Spaniard tops the group no matter what happens in his match with David Ferrrer. That leaves Murray, the World No2, and Wawrinka, who beat Ferrer 7-5,6-2 last night, battling for the chance to make the last four where they look certain to meet Roger Federer.
Murray leads Wawrinka 8-6 in head to heads, but the pair have not meant since the Swiss beat the Scot in the US Open quarter-finals in 2013. Wawrinka bounced back from a dreadful first match loss to Nadal to prove he still possesses the desire and game to be a contender at the Finals. The French Open champion’s forehand was back to it’s booming best as he overpowered the Spaniard.
Murray knows he has to rediscover his first serve after a poor display against Nadal and he admitted:” I served an extremely low percentage, maybe lowest percentage I served the whole year in any match. That's not good enough against someone as good as Rafa."
Murray, who is preparing to lead Britain in the Davis Cup final with Belgium next week, cut some of hid hair off at an early change of ends, suggesting his mind wasn’t totally on the job in hand.
Nadal’s forehand was superb and he looks close to his best after a year that saw him hampered by a loss of confidence.
