Andy Murray will be out to continue his winning streak against Milos Raonic at the ATP World Tour Finals
Saturday 19 November 2016 17:28, UK
Andy Murray will be more determined than ever to continue his winning momentum when he takes on Milos Raonic on Saturday afternoon for a place in the ATP World Tour Final at London's O2 Arena.
While the tennis world will see the giant Canadian as a stepping stone to a blockbuster showdown with Novak Djokovic for the prize of year-end No 1 ranking, Murray will be too aware of the dangers Raonic possesses.
This has been an incredible year for Murray, who has won Wimbledon for a second time, claimed a second Olympic gold medal and become a father.
To finish it on another high, he must repeat this year's Wimbledon and Queen's final triumphs against the big-serving Raonic.
The Scot has won all their five meetings in 2016 while Raonic has won only three of their previous 11 meetings, but his last victory came against Murray at Indian Wells two years ago. Since then, Murray has been on a roll, winning their next seven clashes.
Murray said of another meeting: "I think he's played very well so far in this event. It will be tough, he's got a huge serve. Obviously, I'm looking forward to playing him. It's an amazing stadium, an amazing atmosphere."
But Raonic believes he can win the mental battle, saying: "I think the one thing that I might have is how much he has really on his shoulders right now: a lot of consecutive matches and what he is playing for.
"I have to try to do my best to try to accentuate that as much as possible in my own favour, so I can really get the most out of myself and hopefully be able to get on top of him for once this year."
Sky Sports' tennis analyst Leif Shiras feels Raonic is a real danger to Murray's hopes with a huge serve and powerful groundstrokes.
"On an indoor hardcourt, I think the conditions suit Raonic's game really well so Andy Murray will have to play well."
Raonic's last success against Murray came in the fourth round of Indian Wells in 2014 when he came from a set down to win in three as the Scot's game collapsed.
After the match, Murray admitted he was low on confidence and concerned about his form after dropping his serve twice in the deciding set.
"To get broken two consecutive times in that situation isn't good enough," he said. "I played poor tennis at that stage. I didn't make enough balls and missed easy shots."
Later that year, they met again, but this time at London's O2 Arena in a round-robin encounter, a game Murray won in straight sets.
They faced each other only once in 2015 and it was the Briton who triumphed at the Madrid Masters, recording a 6-4 7-5 victory, although his Canadian opponent was nursing a foot injury.
In Melbourne, they went head-to-head in the semi-finals. Murray was on the ropes and staring defeat in the face when he conjured up his powers of recovery to come from behind to beat Raonic in five gripping sets to reach his fifth successive Australian Open final.
Monte Carlo was the location of their next meeting, but it was the same old story for Raonic as Murray reached the semi-finals of the Masters event after a ruthless 6-2 6-0 win in just over an hour.
This summer, Murray famously beat Raonic at Queen's Club to lift the trophy for a record fifth time and just a fortnight later they met again in the final at the All England Club.
Murray cemented his place in British sporting history with a dazzling 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) victory to repeat his triumph of 2013 and claim a third Grand Slam title.
Their last meeting was a semi-final clash at the Cincinnati Masters and once again Murray came out on top to roar into his seventh successive final.
The 29-year-old notched his 22nd consecutive win by blunting Raonic's intimidating serves.
"He served a couple of doubles that first game and I managed to get the break, and then had the momentum from there," said Murray.
They were due to meet in the Paris Masters semi-final just a week ago, but the Scot was handed a walkover and with it, the coveted title of world No 1 after Raonic's surprise withdrawal through injury.
On Saturday, they will meet once again, and with the 25-year-old 6ft 5in Raonic playing arguably the best tennis of his career, Murray will be wary not to be complacent against the Canadian powerhouse as he eyes a fifth consecutive final.
Check our game-by-game coverage from all matches at the ATP World Tour Finals in London - including both semi-finals on Saturday - on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
