Murray wards off gritty Verdasco

The Briton would have secured a spot in the last four if he had tamed Verdasco in straight sets but must now await the result of Thursday's second match between world number one Roger Federer and US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.

If the Swiss topples the towering Argentine, Murray will extend his stay at the O2 Arena but if Del Potro wins the evening showdown, calculators will be needed to work out which two players progress to the semis from Group A.
On Wednesday, Rafael Nadal became the first player to be knocked out of the ATP World Tour Finals.

Five months after limping out of Wimbledon without defending his title due to aching knees, the Spaniard bore little resemblance to the player who once terrorised his opponents as he slumped to a 6-1, 7-6 defeat by Russia's Nikolay Davydenko.

Nadal spent more time shaking his head in frustration than producing winners during a lopsided first set against Davydenko that flashed by in 27 minutes.
Nadal has no chance of progressing any further in the elite eight-man event even if he beats Djokovic in his final round-robin match on Friday.

Paes-Dlouhy ousted
Indian ace Leander Paes and his partner Lukas Dlouhy suffered a straight-set defeat against American Byran brothers Bob and Mike to be out of contention for a semifinal spot.

Paes and Dlouhy had lost their first Group B doubles match to Kubot and Marach and are now out of contention for the semifinals after their 3-6, 4-6 loss to the Bryan brothers on Wednesday night.