Murray outlasts Nishikori in classic Tour Finals duel

LONDON — Andy Murray had to trawl deep into the bottom of his energy reserves to outlast Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4 in a monumental battle lasting more than three hours at the ATP World Tour Finals Wednesday. 
The new world No. 1 looked in trouble when Nishikori edged an epic tiebreak to claim the opening set in 85 minutes, but hit back to avenge his quarterfinal loss at the US Open, his last Tour level defeat before his astonishing 21-match winning streak. 
Nishikori recovered from an early let-down in the second set and looked close to ending the Scot's remarkable streak when he broke back for 4-4 and had a point for a 5-4 lead. 
Despite looking weary Murray broke again before leveling the match by holding his serve after saving two break points. 
Even when Murray stormed 5-2 ahead in the decider there was still a twist as Nishikori mounted a final desperate assault, breaking Murray on a double-fault, but the Scot sealed victory at the second time of asking after three hours 20 minutes. 
With two victories already in the bag in John McEnroe group, Murray will qualify for the semifinals with a match to spare if Marin Cilic beats Stan Wawrinka in the evening session. 
With Novak Djokovic, his rival to end the year as No. 1, already in the semifinals, Murray could well have to win the Tour Finals for the first time if he is to keep hold of the top spot he took from Djokovic last week. "I just fought really hard. Kei was making me run but I eventually got over the line," Murray said. 
Djokovic booked his place in the semifinals with an emotional 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) victory over Milos Raonic Tuesday. 
Despite having a spiritual guru in his camp these days, Djokovic has been anything but serene lately and once again the defending champion cut an angst-ridden figure for long periods of a tense clash in the prestigious season-ending event at London’s O2 Arena. 
Djokovic had reacted furiously after being grilled by the media about a potentially dangerous incident when he slammed a ball into the stands during his win against Dominic Thiem Sunday. 
This time, the world No. 2 grumbled over camera flashes from the crowd and held a finger to his lips to urge them to be quiet, while moaning when Raonic tried some gamesmanship by taking his time tying up his shoelaces at a key moment in the first set tie-break. 
But, to his credit, Djokovic handled everything a fired-up Raonic threw at him to ensure he remains on course to win the Tour Finals for a fifth successive year and record-equaling sixth time in total. 
“I managed to hang in there mentally and stay strong and believed that the opportunities would come and that I could take them,” Djokovic said. 
With Austria’s Thiem having kept alive his hopes of reaching the semifinals with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Gael Monfils earlier Tuesday, Djokovic knew a win would seal his last four berth with one match still to play.