Sublime Federer knocks Murray out

RogerFederer

Murray needed a straight-sets victory in order to progress to the semi-finals at London's O2 Arena, but bowed out with a whimper as he was swept aside by the world number two in only 56 minutes.

Federer was already assured of a place in the last four following Kei Nishikori's victory over David Ferrer, who was drafted in as a replacement for Milos Raonic, earlier in the day.

The 17-time grand-slam champion ensured he topped Group B by making it three wins out of three as Murray had no answer to his dominant display, with the Scot having to wait until the 12th game to get on the board.

Six-time ATP World Tour Finals winner Federer's emphatic victory ensured Nishikori also progresses from Group B on his debut at the season-ending showpiece.

Federer's victory kept alive his hopes of ending the year as world number one, but Novak Djokovic will top the rankings going into 2015 if he beats Tomas Berdych on Friday.

It was another memorable day for the legendary Swiss right-hander, who equalled Ivan Lendl's record of reaching 12 semi-finals at this lucrative tournament.

Murray made a promising start as he won the first two points of the match on Federer's serve, but that proved to be a false dawn for the British number one as he failed to earn a break point in the entire contest.

Federer set about piling the pressure on Murray as he forced two break points in the two-time grand-slam champion's first service game and won the second to lead 2-0.

Murray crumbled as Federer won 12 points in a row and easily saw out the first set to end his opponent's hopes of reaching the last four.

And it was the same story in the second set, with Federer showing no mercy on Murray as he took the first two break points that came his way and did not allow his opponent a look-in on his serve.

There was an ironic cheer when Murray finally won a game at the 12th time of asking, but that was just delaying the inevitable as Federer served out the match in the following game to march ominously through as group winner.

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