Murray Outlasts Nishikori in Marathon Match at ATP Finals

November 16, 2016 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff

World number one Andy Murray outlasted Kei Nishikori 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4 at the O2 Arena in London on Wednesday, extending his winning streak to 21 matches in what was the longest best-of-three sets match ever at the ATP World Tour Finals.

The opening set would head to a tiebreaker after Nishikori saved a set point at 5-6. The former U.S. Open finalist saved two more set points late in the breaker, and would win the final three points from 8-9 to steal the opening set.

Murray dug in at the start of the second set, breaking Nishikori in the opening game and went on to open up a 4-2 lead. And even after Nishikori fought back to even things at 4-4, Murray broke right back and held serve to snag the second set and force a deciding third set.

The back and forth points continued into the final set, and it was Murray who converted on his break point chances, breaking in the third and fifth games to build a 5-1 advantage. Nishikori did well to trim the lead to 4-5 and forced Murray to have to serve out the match, which he did.

“Kei was making me run a lot, he was dictating a bunch of the points. I managed to get enough breaks to win it,” Murray said afterwards. “That’s what you work for, is these moments in places like this. It was an amazing atmosphere.”

Murray is now 2-0 at the year-end finals as he tries to maintain his spot atop the world rankings. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
USTA NTC

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