Andy Murray beat Kei Nishikori in an epic battle which takes him closer to a place in the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Finals. The match which saw Murray beat Nishikori 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4 lasted three hours and twenty minutes, which was the longest best-of-three-sets match that has been since the event moved to London in 2009. This beats the previous record which was three hours and twelve minutes where Rafael Nadal came out victorious over Murray.
Win Andy Murray
With this win Andy Murray, who is the British favorite and the World No. 1, extended his winning streak to 21 matches and also stayed the battle to hold off Novak Djokovic for the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP rankings. As of now, Murray has 11,585 points in the Emirates ATP Rankings, which puts him in the lead with 405 points – Djokovic on No. 2 has 11,180 points. These rankings saw a huge boost because of the 21 consecutive matches which were significant in helping Murray beat Djokovic’s results in London.
Nishikori was unlucky
Each game in the deciding set was competitive, but it was Murray who found a way to break Nishikori in the third and fifth games. Nishikori was unlucky not to break for 2-2, squandering two chances in a 14-point game. With Murray on the brink of victory at 5-2, Nishikori fired again and won two straight games. Murray remained in control to improve his ATP World Tour-best match record to 75-9, which included eight titles in 2016.
After the grueling three hours and twenty one minute match, Murray said “I’m a bit tired, obviously. But you tend to feel it more the following day, sort of in terms like stiffness and soreness in the body.” He also added, “It could come down to a match between me and Novak.”
Djokovic has a 2-0 record
Djokovic has a 2-0 record in the Ivan Lendl Group, as does the Scot in the John McEnroe Group, having beaten Cilic in his first match. The only way that Murray can be eliminated is by a straight-sets defeat for himself combined with Nishikori beating Cilic in the other Group John McEnroe match.
Murray will face US Open champion Stan Wawrinka in his final round-robin match on Friday.
