Wawrinka will play Swiss compatriot Roger Federer on Saturday
London
: Stan Wawrinka grabbed the last semifinal spot at the ATP World Tour finals by beating Andy Murray 7-6 (4), 6-4 Friday to wrap up the group stage at the season-ending tournament.
He saved two break points at 5-4 before converting his second match point when Murray's backhand went wide.
-"He's playing really well. It's tough to play (him) indoors, especially at the World Tour Final, he is always fit, always ready. I had a tough match now, two hours match with a lot of pressure. I also feel quite tired. I'm going to be focused on that, try to rest, try to recover and be ready for hopefully a good match,-" Wawrinka said of Federer.
-"I wanted to try and win the tournament. Obviously you have to try your best right through to the end. It wasn't enough,-" he said.
-"In the tiebreak, I made bad mistakes at the wrong time. I believe I gave a cheap point away at 4-2. I missed a forehand on the first ball of the rally. It was a fairly basic shot. I made one other error at the end of the set as well. Obviously, that was an important point in the match,-" he said.
In the early match, neither player had much at stake as Nadal had already clinched first place in the group and Ferrer had been eliminated, but the two baseline sluggers still went at it relentlessly for more than two hours in a match full of heavy hitting and long rallies.
Nadal earned the decisive break to go up 5-4 in the third set - having previously wasted five break points in a marathon first game of the decider - and sealed victory with a backhand volley winner.
It was Nadal's third straight win in London but that kind of gruelling encounter probably wasn't the best preparation for a match against Djokovic - especially as the Serb No 1 had the day off. But Nadal is more concerned with maintaining his late-season resurgence after struggling for most of the year.
-"For me it was another opportunity to compete. I think I competed well. I won a very tough match,-" Nadal said.
-"Three straight wins against top-eight players, that's great news for me. That's a positive way to finish the season. Let's see tomorrow what's going to happen.-"
Nadal levelled the match after breaking for 5-3 in the second set and then serving it out at love. The third then began with the best game of the match, which lasted nearly 14 minutes and 200 shots - including some spectacular winners from both players.
Ferrer saved five break points before finally converting his third game point. That game seemed to take its toll on both players and neither had another break point until Ferrer netted a backhand at 4-4 and Nadal then hit a forehand winner down the line to take the lead for good. -"Rafael in the third set, he improved his game. It was close, but he was better,-" Ferrer said.
