Expect sparks to fly at London's O2 Arena
Friday 18 November 2016 15:53, UK
Andy Murray will be required to conjure up more of his remarkable powers of recovery if he is to make it through to the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday.
Having beaten Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori, the world No 1 only needs to win a set against Stan Wawrinka to guarantee his passage through to the semi-finals at the O2 Arena for the first time since 2012.
But he will have to drag his weary body through another tough test as an explosive season finale draws ever closer.
World No 3 Wawrinka showed much better form in beating Cilic on Wednesday than he had in his limp loss to Nishikori and the Swiss knows that a straight-sets win over Murray would maintain his record of always reaching the last four.
Nothing comes easy against the very best players in the world, let alone against the US Open champion who has suddenly clicked in London - something Sky Sports' analyst Mark Petchey acknowledges.
"Wawrinka is always the wildcard in the pack, he's the guy that when he's confident, he's got the power to get through tough surfaces and he does a lot of things well," said Petchey. "He moves better than people give him credit for and as I say it was an intelligent performance with the use of the slice. It's not just about the power and the showbiz tennis."
Friday will be the 17th meeting between the pair, with Murray leading the head-to-head record 9-7, and when they do clash, sparks usually fly.
Wawrinka, who sealed his first major title at the 2014 Australian Open before winning an ATP Tour 500 and 1000 event, last faced the Scot in the French Open semi-finals.
That was one of Murray's most impressive performances of the season and ended a run of three straight losses to Wawrinka, including at the O2 last year with qualification at stake.
Wawrinka, who faces a battle to hold on to the world No 3 ranking, said: "All I know is, if I want to have a chance to qualify, I need to win. That's all I'm trying to do.
"I'm going to try to play my best tennis, to beat the world No 1. It's going to be a tough match. We played each other many times."
The hardcourt surface at the O2 Arena will suit Wawrinka's heavy hitting style of game from both flanks, but he'll have a job breaking down a resilient Murray. The 29-year-old is a totally different prospect to the one he faced in the US Open quarter-finals and Monte Carlo Masters in 2013.
Arguably the most famous meeting between the two came under the Wimbledon lights in 2009 in a contest lasting three minutes short of four hours, which the Scot won in dramatic fashion. Could it more of the same on Friday?
"Obviously it's going to be a tough match," said Petchey. "They've had a lot of tough matches in the past and this will be another one.
"Andy is the form player right now and I'm sure inside he's feeling pretty invincible every match he steps out on court.
"We've got a couple of guys out here who are Grand Slam champions who both believe they can win every single match they step out on court with, no matter who they're playing, where they're playing in the world, on what surface they're playing in the world.
"So both of those players are going to go into that clash on Friday believing and knowing at the moment they still need to win it."
Should Murray win his group, he would play Milos Raonic in the semi-finals on Saturday in a repeat of their Wimbledon final and Australian Open semi-final. Let battle commence...
Check our game-by-game coverage from all group matches at the ATP World Tour Finals in London - including Andy Murray v Stan Wawrinka on Friday afternoon - on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
