ATP World Tour Finals
Venue: O2 Arena, London Date: 24 November
Coverage: Live on BBC Three and Radio 5 live sports extra from 2100 GMT, plus live text commentary on BBC Sport website
By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at the O2 Arena
**Andy Murray will take on Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday with both knowing a win will give them one foot in the semi-finals.**The pair won their opening matches in the round-robin phase, with the top two to go through from each group of four.
Murray knocked Federer out of last year’s event and will be looking to improve his 6-3 record over the Swiss.
“You’ve got to pretty much win two matches out of the three to give yourself a chance,” said Murray.
“I could still win two and not go through, but I’ll try to get the next one out of the way. If I can win that one I’ll put myself in a good position.”
The eight-man season finale is taking place in London for the first time this year after moving from Shanghai, and Murray is enjoying the majority of the support in the 17,500-seater arena.
“The night match will be a great atmosphere again,” Murray said after his opening win over Juan Martin del Potro.
“When I got close to winning at the end of the match the atmosphere was excellent. That’s going to make a big difference going into the next couple of matches.”
The music, lights and indoor setting make the ATP Finals a very different experience to the nation’s usual tennis experience, and despite the tournament effectively being a world championship Murray is feeling less pressure than at Wimbledon.
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“Hope the Fed-Mur game lives up to the hype and both play quality tennis”
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“Obviously there’s no kind of build-up to this event, whereas with Wimbledon there’s a good two weeks where you’ve got Queen’s and then the week before, which makes it a little bit more difficult,” he said.
Federer made a slow start to his opening match against Fernando Verdasco but was somewhere near to his best by the end of the three-set encounter.
The 28-year-old needs a good run in London to ensure he ends the year ranked number one, but the chance to amend for last year’s defeat by Murray in Shanghai is another motivation.
“I remember I was not going into the match with, let’s say, the highest of hopes,” Federer said of the 4-6 7-6 7-5 defeat in the final group game.
"I knew I had a little bit left in the tank because I was sick two days before. I was injured two, three weeks before for the entire time so I kind of just said to myself, ‘You know what, I’ll play aggressive and see what happens.’
“I was playing incredible for a set, almost got a victory, but I thought it was a very exciting match to be a part of. It was unfortunate for me not to come through but I still think the match was great. I hope we can live up to the expectations and play another good one.”
And despite having a losing record against the Scot, with defeats in Indian Wells and Doha this year, Federer won their last encounter in the Cincinnati semi-finals.
“I expect a difficult match,” he said. “It’s always fun playing your fellow rivals. From the top guys I think Andy has been one of the guys I played most.”