Murray v Stan: A battle royale

Andy Murray will be required to conjure up more of his remarkable powers of recovery if he is to make it through to the knock-out stages of the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday.

Having beaten Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori, the world No 1 only needs to win a set against Stan Wawrinka to guarantee his passage through to the semi-finals at the O2 Arena for the first time since 2012.

But he will have to drag his weary body through another tough test as an explosive season finale draws ever closer.

World No 3 Wawrinka showed much better form in beating Cilic on Wednesday than he had in his limp loss to Nishikori and the Swiss knows that a straight-sets win over Murray would maintain his record of always reaching the last four.

Nothing comes easy against the very best players in the world, let alone against the US Open champion who has suddenly clicked in London – something Sky Sports’ analyst Mark Petchey acknowledges.

“Wawrinka is always the wildcard in the pack, he’s the guy that when he’s confident, he’s got the power to get through tough surfaces and he does a lot of things well,” said Petchey. “He moves better than people give him credit for and as I say it was an intelligent performance with the use of the slice. It’s not just about the power and the showbiz tennis.”

Friday will be the 17th …

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