• ATP World Tour Finals

Murray finds top gear to reach the semi-finals in London

Andy Murray was aggressive from the baseline against David Ferrer © PA Photos

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Andy Murray joined Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals with a confidence-boosting 6-2 6-2 victory over David Ferrer on Thursday, which lifts him back up the rankings to world No. 4.

Murray needed to find inspiration not only for himself but for the London crowd at the O2 Arena, after they had witnessed an uncharacteristically limp collapse to Federer on Tuesday. That defeat had left the British No. 1's title hopes on a knife-edge, but 48 hours on Murray was in the sort of form that few players can match.

Certainly Ferrer, the seventh seed, was no equal to the home favourite, losing six consecutive games to concede the first set. Ferrer needed to beat Murray in straight sets whilst only allowing his opponent six games in order to book his own ticket to the semi-finals, but that distant dream died as soon as Murray wrapped up the first stanza in the blink of an eye.

There was a brief wobble for Murray, who entered with a losing 3-1 record against Ferrer, when he sunk an early forehand into the net to drop his opening service game in lacklustre fashion. However, from that point onwards every shot in Murray's locker was on show and, unlike the Federer loss, almost everything worked. The backhand down the line secured the break back, an audacious drop shot brought him back to 2-2, before a deep cross-court forehand clinched a 5-2 advantage.

Andy Murray was inspired during the first set © Getty Images

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Last year Murray won two of his round-robin matches and did not qualify for the last four, but this time he knew his destiny was in his own hands. As he wrapped up the first set, there was the trademark roar of "come on" from the Briton, who knew he had already done enough to book a potential semi-final meeting with Rafael Nadal - dependent on Friday's results.

The contrast in Murray's game from Tuesday's defeat to Federer was perhaps best summed up in the opening exchange of the second stanza, when he leapt all over Ferrer's second serve to break for a fourth consecutive time. Against Federer's serve, Murray had won just 18 percent of points (eight points in total) in the entire match.

To Ferrer's credit, given the fact that he had nothing more than money to play for, the Spaniard broke back immediately. However, the net cord was not helping his case, intervening at the crucial moment to hand the advantage back to Murray at 3-2 in the second, and the Briton then saved two further break chances to extend his lead to 4-2.

By the end, the ease in which Murray was dismantling the Ferrer serve was quite breathtaking, bearing in mind this was the world No. 7 he was beating, and the manner of victory, which arrived with the simplest of forehands at the net, brings renewed hope of a British winner to the final tournament of the season.

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