Murray beats Raonic as Federer records second win

Fifth seed Murray, who lost to Nishikori in the first round-robin group stage, registered a 6-3, 7-5 victory over seventh seed Raonic of Canada.
Murray will next face six-time former champion Federer on Thursday in their final group match, Xinhua reports. Raonic saved two break points at 1-2, but was broken two games later by Murray. Both players exchanged breaks early in the second set before Raonic was broken to give Murray a 6-5 lead. Murray, who had lost his two previous encounters with the big-serving Raonic, ensured some suspense for the last day of matches in his group, with all four players retaining a chance to progress. "It's a nice match on Thursday to look forward to, it'll be a great atmosphere again," said Murray. "It's always a pleasure to play against Roger. He's one of the greatest players that has ever played so to get the opportunity to play him in an atmosphere like this is excellent." "I haven't served well," said Raonic. "I've been too passive on the court. I've been trying to beat the two guys playing their tennis, and that's not going to work for me." Federer, 33, a 17-time Grand Slam winner, defeated fourth seed Nishikori 6-3, 6-2 for his 70th match win of the year, which includes five titles. "I think with my game, I have the capability of really making him feel uncomfortable, mixing it up," said Federer. "But it's not always possible. He's shown in the past when he gets the upper hand against any player from the baseline, he's very difficult to beat. Today for some reason he couldn't get it done. Maybe I was playing too well defence and offense, mixing up my serve good enough... It was really important to take advantage of the fact that I was feeling really good, and then maybe he was struggling a little bit today. "There's so much still at stake for me, wanting to beat a fellow rival and wanting to win the points that are at stake, go in with a clean sheet into the semis. I'm happy after two matches I'm standing here with two wins. It's very positive." "He didn't give me a chance to come back," said Nishikori. "I didn't play really bad. I never feel that he's 33 right now. He still looks young and plays amazing tennis." Nishikori, the first Asian player to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals will now face Raonic in his final group match on Thursday.