Andy Murray can turn his attentions to the Davis Cup final after losing a winner-takes-all clash with Stan Wawrinka at the ATP World Tour Finals.
It was a straight fight for the last semi-final spot and it is Wawrinka who will play compatriot Roger Federer in a rematch of last year’s fiery encounter following a 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 victory.
Murray recovered from a break down in the opener but from 4-2 up in the tie-break things fell apart, and the frustrated world number two failed to make the last four for the fourth time in six appearances at London’s O2 Arena.
Intriguingly, Murray’s support camp were not sat courtside but higher up in the stands. In his BBC column yesterday, the 28-year-old had talked about the “comfort blanket” of having family and friends to look at during a match.
There was the issue of the Davis Cup next weekend. Wawrinka half-suspected it could have an effect on Murray’s mental state, with the Scot having made it clear beating Belgium was his priority ahead of this tournament.
But in the third game Murray strained every sinew to reach a Wawrinka shot and somehow guide a forehand back past the Swiss.
Murray leaped in the air and pumped his fist. Although Wawrinka saved the break point that followed, and another, Murray’s intentions were clear.
But, switched on or not, Wawrinka remained a formidable opponent, and the fourth seed was having one of his good days, pushing Murray back way behind the baseline with the ferocity of his groundstrokes.
The Scot had looked favourite to take the first set when he moved 4-2 ahead in the tie-break but from there he spectacularly imploded, making errors on five successive points to hand it to Wawrinka.
The pair had not played since 2013, when Wawrinka had won both their meetings comfortably, and the Swiss was on the verge of a third semi-final in three appearances in London when he broke twice for 5-2 in the second set.
But Murray was not quite finished and, after retrieving one of the breaks, he urged the crowd to get behind him.
The impossible seemed possible when he had two chances to get back to 5-5 but he could not take either and his 30th unforced error was one too many.
Earlier, Spain’s Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer played out the most competitive of dead rubbers, with the 14-time grand slam champion eventually edging a 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 6-4 victory after two hours and 37 minutes.
Ostensibly there was nothing for either man to play for 200 ranking points and £109,000 aside with Nadal already guaranteed top spot in the group and Ferrer eliminated.
But, after his worst season for a decade, wins over top-10 rivals are not to be sniffed at for Nadal, who admitted he may now be fatigued for today’s semi-final against Novak Djokovic.