Murray and Soares still on course for top doubles ranking
Thursday 17 November 2016 23:11, UK
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are through to the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Finals after making it three wins from three at the O2 Arena.
Having won their first two matches, Murray and Soares only needed a set to reach the last four, but they ended up beating Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-3 3-6 10-6 after a hard-fought encounter.
The 200 ranking points they earned put Murray and Brazilian Soares provisionally ahead of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the race to finish the year as the number one team in the world.
The French pair could move back ahead when they play their final match on Friday but their semi-final chances have already gone, so reaching the final would definitely be enough for Murray and Soares.
Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals
And Jamie and Andy Murray could both finish the year at the top of the rankings, an unprecedented achievement for two brothers.
Having already claimed the Australian and US Open titles, Murray and Soares have been in top form in London and quickly secured the set they needed on Thursday night.
But Soares dropped serve in the eighth game of the second, allowing Brazilian pair Melo and Croatian Dodig to level matters.
The match was therefore decided on a first-to-10 tie-break and Murray and Soares quickly opened up what turned out to be a decisive gap.
Murray said afterwards: "We knew we had to win I think seven games [to qualify], which is a weird kind of mentality to have going into the match. We played great the first two matches.
"Of course, we really wanted to win because we wanted to get the points to try to get closer to No 1. Mentally, I don't know, it was an odd situation for us.
"I think we did well to win. We played some good stuff at the right moments. Really happy to have won three matches, and be through to the semis."
David Beckham was in attendance with his son Romeo and Murray added: "It's good for tennis when guys like that come out to watch the events.
"There's been a lot of people here this week, famous faces from the sporting world. It's good for us. I think it gives everyone a little buzz."
