WORLD number one Rafael Nadal booked his place in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals with a thrilling 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(6) win over Andy Murray at the O2 Arena.
Nadal held a match point while serving for the match at 5-4 but Murray mounted a late comeback and even held a 4-2 lead in the final set tie-break before the Spaniard managed to close things out at his third attempt with an outrageous winner.
Next up for the 24-year-old, in today’s final, will be either world number two Roger Federer or world number three Novak Djokovic.
With both men looking highly confident on serve right from the off, it was perhaps inevitable that the first set would end in a tie-break.
Nadal took the early advantage and led 4-2 at the change of ends, as he ran round a series of balls before drilling a change of direction forehand down the line for a winner.
A 36-stroke rally won by Murray when he raced up to a drop shot before dinking a backhand volley winner across court did see the Scot bounce back with three straight points to level up.
But Nadal held his ground and finally wrapped up the set on his second attempt with a drop shot that did just enough to stretch Murray, as the Scot failed to play the ball before its second bounce.
Nadal enjoyed the first break points of the match in the second game of the second set but again Murray refused to lie down, saving the second with a blistering off-forehand passing shot winner across court after the Spaniard had squandered the first, and the second set looked primed to follow in the first set’s footsteps.
But Murray raised his intensity, just as Nadal’s dropped slightly, and found himself on the receiving end of three break points after a magnificently aggressive forehand winner across court.
The opportunity looked to have gone a-begging for the world number five as the Spaniard saved the first with a flicked forehand winner across court off a drop shot from Murray, while the Scot squandered the second and third.
But Murray eventually did grab the break at the fourth attempt with a blistering backhand winner that he drilled across court.
Suddenly everything was going right for Murray as he went on to consolidate the break, after feeding a forehand passing shot winner down the line despite breaking a string. And just two games later the 23-year-old had levelled the match as he broke for a second time with a couple of ferocious return of serve winners.
Murray even started the final third set in much the same vein as he earned himself a 0-30 lead against the Nadal serve in the second game.
But just as the momentum looked to have swung decisively in the Scot’s favour, Nadal broke to take the lead once again. Murray thought he had wrapped up another hold with an off-forehand winner across court but instead found himself at deuce after a late call.
Deuce quickly became advantage Nadal and the Spaniard took the lead with a dipping forehand return that Murray could only volley into the net.
Murray had a chance to get back in it in the sixth game when Nadal handed him two break points but, when he wasted them both, the Spaniard looked set to roll over the finish line and into the final.
The Scot stunned everyone, however, not least Nadal, as he found a reserve from somewhere and broke back with a backhand winner drilled down the line, when the Spaniard was serving for the set.
Nadal recovered his composure enough to force the tie-break before Murray again earned himself a slim lead by racing out to a 4-2 lead, with an emphatic forehand winner, just before the change of ends.
In fact, Murray was just two points away from victory before Nadal stormed back once again, earning himself a second match point with a forehand that wrong-footed the Scot on the baseline as he ended on the floor in pain.
Murray had enough to deny Nadal one last time, working his way into the net to level up again at the second change of ends.
But the Scot ran out of steam shortly after as Nadal finally booked his place in the championship match with an off-forehand winner across court and into the corner.