Action underway on Sky Sports 3 from 12pm
Saturday 19 November 2016 13:52, UK
Andy Murray meets Milos Raonic on Saturday in the ATP World Tour semi-finals with both men chasing a first ever place in the tournament final.
The Scot has never reached the final of the tournament but having set new benchmarks throughout the season of his career he remains on course to do so again at The O2 this week.
With rival for the No 1 spot Novak Djokovic also comfortably through to the last four, the battle to end the year as the world's top ranked player looks like going to the wire but first Murray must overcome the semi-final barrier that has halted him in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
Standing in his way will be the familiar face of Raonic, the Canadian beat Dominic Thiem in straight sets on Thursday night to reach the knock-out stage having gone out in the group stages of his only previous appearance in the tournament.
The pair will follow the first doubles semi-final and will not be on court before 2pm and you can follow the action on Sky Sports 3 from 12pm.
This will be the seventh time the pair have met this season, Murray winning six with Raonic withdrawing from their last contest, the Paris Masters semi-final that resulted in Murray's confirmation as world No 1.
It is Murray who leads the head to head (8-3) and he will take great heart from the notable wins this season that included coming from two sets to one down to beat the Canadian in the Australian Open semi-final.
He also came from a set down to claim his sixth Queens Club title and most memorably he recorded a straight sets triumph to win a second Wimbledon crown on a memorable Sunday afternoon at the All England Club.
Raonic's last victory over Murray came back in 2014 when he won in three sets at Indian Wells, while they have met once at The O2 where Murray won 6-3 7-5 in the same year.
Murray topped the John McEnroe Group with three wins from his three matches while Raonic's only defeat came against Novak Djokovic and while Murray is looking to hold on to his No 1 ranking, Raonic is out to claim the No 3 spot from the eliminated Wawrinka.
However Murray is in the form of his life, he heads into the match on the back of 22 successive victories and four titles in the last six weeks, while he has as a season-high eight titles in total including a second Olympic gold medal and second Wimbledon.
Kicking off the last four action on Saturday will be the first doubles semi-final, where Henri Kontinen and John Peers meet Bob and Mike Bryan.
Kontinen and Peers won all three matches in the round robin stage and along with Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares have displayed the best form this week but they will be tested by the Bryan brothers who are determined to add a fifth season-end title to their spectacular CV.
Follow all the action from the O2 on Saturday when the action begins on Sky Sports 3 from 12pm and 4pm or via our live blog here at www.skysports.com/tennis.
