The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Murray and Soares into last four of ATP Finals
Scotland’s Jamie Murray and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares cruised into the last four of the ATP Finals by beating Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot.
Melo and Kubot are numbers one and two respectively in the doubles rankings but were outclassed at London’s O2 Arena as Murray and the excellent Soares won 6-2 6-4.
“We played great again,” Murray said.
“We knew we’d have to play a really good match to bet Marcelo and Lukasz.
“Obviously playing the way we did on Wednesday gave us a lot of confidence going into this match. We played great again from start to finish really.”
This was an all-or-nothing tie for Murray and Soares, who knew success would mean progressing as group winners while defeat meant elimination.
Their triumph therefore earns them top spot but arguably a tougher semifinal draw, given they now face defending champions Henri Kontinen and Murray’s former partner John Peers tomorrow.
Kontinen lifted the Wimbledon mixed doubles trophy alongside Britain’s Heather Watson last year.
“It’s going to be tough again, obviously,” Murray said. “We lost to them twice this year, both in tie-breaks, both close matches.
“They’re a power team, with big serves, they like having cracks at returns. It’s not like you get a lot of rhythm playing against them.”
Murray called for treatment during his last match on Wednesday for spasms in his back and the Scot took the day off practice on Thursday to recover.
After yesterday’s match he said: “It’s better, I wasn’t really aware of it so much when I was playing.”
He added: “It’s not always that comfortable but it’s not really affecting me playing.”
Melo and Kubot go through as runners-up in the group and will meet Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus in the other semi-final.
Meanwhile, David Goffin admits he has no idea how to go about beating Roger Federer when they meet in the last four of the singles today.
Goffin has lost his last six encounters with the Swiss ace.
The Belgian beat Dominic Thiem 6-4 6-1 yesterday to clinch second place in the group but was not optimistic about his chances against the Swiss.
The other semi-final is between America’s Jack Sock and Gregor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian had already qualified before his 6-1 6-1 win over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta last night.