Jamie Murray & Soares through to ATP semis
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are into the doubles semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals and on course to end 2016 as the world number one pairing.
Briton Murray and Brazil’s Soares beat Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-3 3-6 10-6 to top the Edberg/Jarryd Group.
The win takes Murray and Soares above Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the rankings.
The French pair could regain top spot by winning their final group match.
However, Friday’s match is Herbert and Mahut’s last chance to accrue another 200 points because they lost their opening two matches and cannot qualify for the semi-finals.
Murray and Soares will play Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez or Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in the last four on Saturday.
“All the guys can beat each other here, I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Murray.
“I knew if we could perform well we’d be a tough team to beat.
“We played great the first three matches and we’re really excited to be in the semi-finals for the first time.”
Soares can also end the year top of the individual doubles rankings if Mahut fails to win with Herbert on Friday.
“He’s been close the last few weeks and we keep blowing it,” said Murray, who was number one earlier in the year.
“Bruno’s obviously been doing a good job for me this year and it would be great for us if he can do it.”