ATP Finals Day 4 – Wawrinka and Murray win

In the longest match of the ATP World Tour Finals so far, world number one, Andy Murray, outlasted Kei Nishikori in a three-set marathon that lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes by the scoreline of 6-7 6-4 6-4. In the end, Murray's impressive fitness got him the win countless of long rallies where he forced Nishikori to keep coming up with that extra good shot. The court seems to fit counter-punchers Murray and Djokovic really well and it plays remarkably slower than what I would have expected.

Murray extends his win streak and Nishikori needs to fight for a place in the semi-finals against Cilic while Wawrinka does the same against the Scot.

The reason Wawrinka still has a fighting chance is that he beat Cilic in two tight sets 7-6 (3) 7-6 (3) which demonstrated his fighter instinct more than the amazing shot-making he can pull off. He pointed to his head several times during the match to illustrate that “this is where the battle really takes place” and in the end he got it done. Now the real test is against Murray tomorrow Friday. Stan is a big match player and I think this gives him a decent chance if he can get his mind right.

Today we are watching the final matches of the Lendl group. Djokovic has already qualified and instead of the injured Monfils he will play David Goffin. For the overall result the match can be deemed as rather pointless, but Djokovic wants to keep his win streak and every match nets the winner 200 ranking points and some nice prize money too.

ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS 2016

McEnroe Group

Andy Murray 2-0 (4-1)
Stan Wawrinka 1-1 (2-2)
Kei Nishikori 1-1 (3-2)
Marin Cilic 0-2 (0-4)

Lendl Group

Novak Djokovic 2-0 (4-1)
Milos Raonic 1-1 (2-2)
Gael Monfils 0-2 (1-4)
Dominic Thiem 1-1 (2-3)

Year-end world number one ranking scenarios