Wawrinka beats Murray

Stan Wawrinka knocked Andy Murray out of the World Tour Finals 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 on Friday to set up a second straight London semi-final against six-time champion Roger Federer, while Rafael Nadal won the tournament's Spanish battle, downing David Ferrer in three sets to set up a semifinal clash against Djokovic.

Murray's defeat in front of 17,000 left the Scot with a 1-2 record in the round robin, preventing him from finishing the season as number two behind Novak Djokovic. Only a weekend loss by Federer would hand Murray a season-record finish.

The Scot had his chances in the opening set, recovering from 3-5 down in the first set, but losing five straight points from 4-2 in the tiebreaker as French Open winner Wawrinka took the early lead after more than one hour. The Swiss broke for 1-0 in the second to consolidate his margin, but had to overcome a lapse at the end, twice serving for the match after leading the second set 5-2. Murray briefly came alive for a break-back for 3-5 and closed to 4-5 before Wawrinka advanced on a second match point in the next game.

Is Nadal back?

Nadal had already reached the final four, but he still had to battle for almost two and three-quarter hours with his Spanish countryman. Nadal will take on world number one Djokovic in the 46th edition of their rivalry, with the Spaniard standing 23-22 after losing three times to the Serb this season, including last month's Beijing final.

"I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. It will be a really difficult match against a player who is playing well," said Nadal, who started strongly against Ferrer as he won a rollercoaster set marked by six breaks of serve and a run of four winning games for Ferrer after Nadal had gone up an early double break.

"I believe. I need to play my best to have any chance against Novak. That's what I'm going to try," said Nadal afterwards.

Nadal, with a career highlighted by winning all four majors, an Olympic gold medal and a Davis Cup title for Spain, has been unable to win the year-end championships in six prior appearances. It is the event the 29-year-old has played the most without tasting trophy success.

jh/ (dpa)