JOIN USNadal too good for Murray
Rafael Nadal was in imperious form as he crushed Andy Murray at the World Tour Finals on Wednesday with an impressive 6-4, 6-1 victory at London's O2 Arena.
The Spanish fifth seed was dominant as the British world number two's game fell apart in front of a home crowd at the 17,800-capacity venue.
The first set was a high-level contest featuring impressive rallies and smart drop shots, but in the second, Murray's game fell away as Nadal turned the screw.
Whether Nadal goes through to the semifinals depends on the result of the other match in the four-man group, when world number four Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland takes on Spain's seventh seed David Ferrer.
In the other group, Roger Federer has already qualified for the semifinals, while world number one Novak Djokovic needs to beat Tomas Berdych in his last round-robin match on Thursday.
Japan's Kei Nishikori could join Federer in the semis if he beats the Swiss great.On Tuesday, Federer defeated Djokovic 7-5, 6-2 in their group stage clash in the packed 17,800-capacity O2 Arena in London, winning the key points at crucial moments to hand the Serb his first indoor defeat in 39 matches -- a winning run stretching back to 2012.
Triple defending champion Djokovic, on a 23-match winning streak, suffered his first defeat since losing to Federer in the Cincinnati final on August 23. But after becoming the first man through to this year's semis, world number three Federer insisted Djokovic was still the favourite to win the season-ending tournament.
Federer now leads Djokovic 22-21 in career matches between them. Later, the Swiss slapped down suggestions of playing mind games when his choice of chair left Djokovic sitting with a Federer-monogrammed towel.
Federer walked out on court first but the Swiss great's choice of chair meant Djokovic was left sitting on a bench with a blue towel reading "Roger Federer" laid out on the armrest.
The Serbian did a double-take when he saw it and briefly covered it up with a plain white towel, before raising his eyebrows and getting on with the match. Federer said he simply went to the same chair he used in his opening group match against Tomas Berdych -- and was not amused when questioned about the incident.
"A towel doesn't mean much to me. I'm not going to be pushed by a towel," he said. "I sat on that chair when I walked out against Tomas. I said, 'I'd like to sit here again'.
"I walked out first. Usually the guy who walks out first decides which side he wants to sit on. That's the rules to me, not a towel, to be quite honest. Maybe to you a towel matters more. To me a towel is to take a shower with."