Distracted Murray trims fringe on way to defeat

RAFA NADAL produced one of his best performances of the year to beat Andy Murray 6-4 6-1 at the ATP World Tour Finals yesterday and move within sight of the semifinals.

The 29-year-old 14-time grand slam champion, pictured above, looked more like the dominant player of old as he edged a tight first set at the O2 Arena before running away with the match.

With two wins out of two the Spaniard would be assured of one of the top two places in the Ilie Nastase Group if Stanislas Wawrinka beats David Ferrer in the later match.

Murray, who beat Spaniard Ferrer in his opener, faded badly in the second set after Nadal finally broke serve decisively in the 10th game having wasted several earlier opportunities.

Britain’s World No 2, who has one eye on next week’s Davis Cup final in Belgium, looked distracted, surrendering nine points in a row early in the second set, and Nadal needed no second invitation to press home his advantage.

Murray, who bizarrely trimmed his fringe during a changeover in the first set, can still reach the semis by beating Wawrinka in his final roundrobin match tomorrow.

Resurgent Nadal’s late-season form, including finals in Beijing and Basle, have lifted him to fifth in the world rankings, having fallen to 10th during a torrid summer. – Reuters