Andy Murray on Friday swept into the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Stan Wawrinka as the world No. 1 remained on course for a final showdown against Novak Djokovic.
Murray brushed aside Wawrinka in 86 minutes at London’s O2 Arena to ensure he finished top of his group and avoided a last-four clash with Djokovic.
Instead, the 29-year-old was yesterday to face Canada’s Milos Raonic in the semi-finals.
Photo: Reuters
Wawrinka’s defeat means Japan’s Kei Nishikori qualifies as runner-up to Murray and he takes on defending champion Djokovic in the other semi-final. Nishikori lost to Djokovic on his previous appearance in the semi-finals in 2014.
The 26-year-old suffered a frustrating warm-up for his latest meeting with Djokovic, as the world No. 5 was beaten 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 by Marin Cilic in the evening session to leave him with two defeats in his three group matches.
Murray ended Djokovic’s 122-week reign at the top of the rankings two weeks ago, but to guarantee finishing this year in pole position, he must win the Tour Finals for the first time.
He looks in the mood to do just that on the evidence of a ruthless performance against US Open champion Wawrinka, which took his winning streak to 22 matches and equaled his career-best run earlier this year.
“The first set was tight. There weren’t many chances. I managed to get the break late in the set,” Murray said. “In the second set I’d already qualified for the semis, so maybe it was easier for me to play more free than him.”
“Stan is one of the best players in the world. When he’s at his best he’s unplayable, but I played a solid match. I’m happy to get to the semis,” he added.
This has been an incredible year for Murray, who has won Wimbledon for the second time, claimed a second Olympic gold medal and become a father for the first time.
To finish it on another high, Murray must repeat this year’s Wimbledon and Queen’s final triumphs against the big serving Raonic.
That would set up a possible winner-takes-all meeting with old rival Djokovic to determine who secures the Tour Finals title and the world No. 1 ranking.
Murray got a pre-match boost just before stepping on court when he learned that his elder brother Jamie was guaranteed to finish the year as doubles world No. 1 with partner Bruno Soares.
Maintaining the Murray family’s hopes of a double celebration when the brothers head off for their father’s bachelor party next week, the Scot matched Wawrinka blow for blow.
He landed the crucial blow on his first break point when a fortunate net-cord bounced his way, flustering Wawrinka into an ill-timed error that gifted Murray a 4-3 lead in the first set.
Wawrinka had made the semi-finals of the Tour Finals for the past three years and knocked out Andy Murray in the group stages last year.
However, Andy Murray won their last meeting in the French Open semi-finals in June and he pressed home his hard-earned advantage by closing out the set in businesslike fashion.
Andy Murray knew he only needed to take one set to be certain of reaching the last four, but he had to win the match to be assured of topping the group.
He kept his foot on the gas and broke Wawrinka again in the first game of the second set.
A huge serve got Andy Murray out of trouble when Wawrinka finally got his first break point in the next game.
Andy Murray effectively ended Wawrinka’s resistance with a clinical volley that secured another break in the third game and prompted the frustrated Swiss star to smash two rackets and draw a code violation.
Tormented by Andy Murray’s changes of pace and angles, Wawrinka folded and one last miscued forehand sealed the Scot’s regal progress.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier