Seb Kay rounds up the action from day four of the Barclays ATP Finals.
Rafael Nadal v Andy Murray
Rafael Nadal made Andy Murray wait to be crowed world number two, as the Spaniard returned close to his best by beating the British number one 6-4 6-1 in the first singles match of the day.
In similar fashion to his match with Wawrinka, Nadal saw his serve broken in the first game of the match only to immediately break back. Murray managed to fight off a combined five break points before Nadal’s attacking play prevailed to win the set 6-4.
Nadal broke straight away in the second set and looked at ease throughout, gaining the double break to move 5-1 ahead, before serving out the match to claim his place in the semi-finals as the group winner.
Stan Wawrinka v David Ferrer
After losing their opening games, a loss meant elimination from the Finals for either player, and with Ferrer leading 5-2 it looked as though it would be Wawrinka. This Swiss had other plans however, as his aggressive baseline game with well-timed approaches to the net saw him claim the next five games to take the first set 7-5.
Fans were then treated to the Wawrinka that won the French Open title earlier this year in the second set, as he broke serve in the first and fifth game of the set to cruise to victory 7-5 6-2.
Following the win Wawrinka will now face Andy Murray on Friday in a showdown for the last qualifying spot.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut v Marcin Matkowski & Nenad Zimonjic
Herbert and Mahut improved to a 1-1 win/loss in the groups as they came back from a set to beak Matkowski and Zimonjic.
The French pair took an early 3-1 lead in the first set, but the Polish-Serbian duo responded with the next three games and then broke Mahut’s serve to take the opening set 7-5.
Matkowski was at fault in the second set and the Pole was broken twice at 2-2 and 3-5 to help the Frenchmen take the match into a third-set tie-break.
In the tie-break, Herbert and Mahut established an 8-5 lead, to eventually take the match by a narrow margin, 5-7 6-3 10-8.
Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau v Ivan Dodig & Marcelo Melo
Rojer and Tecau booked their places out of the group with a one-hour, 21 minute win over Dodig and Melo.
The Dutch-Romanian combo lost just three points on serve on their way to claiming the first set, with the lone break coming in the third game of the match.
The Wimbledon champions would again break in the third game of the following set. But like they did in their opening match, Dodig and Melo fought back to take the set to a tie-break, though this time couldn’t get the better of their opponents, losing 6-4 7-6.