Murray, Soares ease into London last four

Britain’s Jamie Murray and his partner Bruno Soares cruised into the last four of the ATP Finals by beating Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot.

Melo and Kubot are ranked one and two respectively in the doubles rankings but they 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 beat 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 the finish really.”

This was an all-or-nothing tie for Murray and Brazilian Soares, who knew success would mean progressing as group winners while defeat would see them eliminated.

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 today.

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 tiebreaks, both close matches.”

• Earlier yesterday, David Goffin booked a lastfour meeting with Roger Federer after surging back to beat Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1 and clinch second place in his group.

Jamie Murray