Murray and Ferrer to meet in Valencia

AndyMurray

Murray is currently in the driving seat to qualify for next month's season-ending showpiece, and he made it 16 wins from his last 18 matches with a battling three-set victory over Kevin Anderson in the last eight of the ATP 500 indoor tournament on Thursday.

Top seed Ferrer - who sits one position behind Murray in the Race to London standings - enjoyed a more serene passage to the semi-finals, thrashing Thomaz Bellucci 6-1 6-2.

Both players' hopes of competing in London were boosted later on Friday when world number three Rafael Nadal announced he is to undergo surgery to correct his appendicitis on November 3 and will therefore not take part at the Finals. 

However, Murray - who defeated Ferrer in last Sunday's Vienna Open final - and the 32-year-old will be eager to enhance their claims with victory on Saturday. 

The Briton was made to work hard for his win on Friday, with big-serving South African Anderson taking a mammoth first set, which took 79 minutes to complete, on a tie-break 7-6 (7-3).

Third seed Murray displayed impressive resilience to hit back by breaking Anderson twice in taking the second set 6-4 to level the match.

And the two-time grand-slam champion showed all his big-match experience in the decider, with a single break in the very first game of the set enough to provide him with a platform for another 6-4 success.

Ferrer, a three-time champion in Valencia, followed Murray onto court and wasted little time in dismantling Bellucci to join an elite club of Roger Federer, Nadal and Lleyton Hewitt as only the fourth active male player to record 600 wins on Tour.

A swift double break enabled the Spaniard to take the opener 6-1, and he was never troubled in the second set either, wrapping up his easy win in just over an hour.

Jeremy Chardy and Tommy Robredo will meet in the other semi-final after both men triumphed in straight sets on Friday.

Chardy coasted to a 6-1 6-2 success against Pablo Carreno-Busta, but Robredo was forced to work harder before completing a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory over Pablo Andujar.

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