Nadal back to his best in commanding victory over Murray at ATP World Tour Finals

Spaniard Rafael Nadal moved a step closer to the semi-finals with a convincing win over Andy Murray ©Getty Images

Spain's Rafael Nadal rolled back the years with a classy display to claim a comfortable straight sets victory over Britain’s Andy Murray at the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London today.

Nadal, enjoying a resurgence in form after he dropped to 10th in the world rankings earlier this year, appeared to be back to his ruthless best as he breezed to a 6-4, 6-1 success.

The result handed the 29-year-old fifth seed his second consecutive win of the event after he dismantled world number four Stanislas Wawrinka in his opening encounter and he now looks well placed to reach the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament.

The defeat for Murray prolongs his wait to secure the world number two ranking at the end of the year, something he has never achieved, and he was perhaps affected by the rigorous training he had been undertaking on a clay surface ahead of Britain’s Davis Cup final clash with Belgium.

“I didn't play with many mistakes, I tried to play aggressive,” Nadal, who has never won the event, said.

“I’m just very happy.

“It's hard to play matches like this, and important for me to see results like this.”

Britain's Andy Murray was out of sorts as he fell to a comfortable defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal ©Getty Images

The match between two heavyweights of the sport began in frenetic fashion as the players traded early breaks in the first set, before Nadal began to assert his dominance from the baseline, though the contest remained relatively even.

Nadal, nine-times winner of the French Open, edged the opener with a volley on the Murray serve to strike first blood and built on that momentum with a second set display for which the Briton had no answer.

Murray’s second serve, so often exploited as a key weakness by the game’s top players, faltered again and Nadal was able to seize control before he closed out the victory with a trademark forehand winner.

Wawrinka managed to bounce back from his loss to Nadal as he clinched a much-needed 7-5, 6-2 victory in his clash with David Ferrer.

The Swiss found himself 5-3 down in the first set but rallied by taking four games in a row to edge ahead before he powered his way to an impressive win in the second.

In the men’s doubles competition, Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut picked up their first group win as they beat seventh seeds Marcin Matkowski of Poland and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.

Jean-Julien Rojer of The Netherlands and Romanian Horia Tecau secured a semi-final berth as they overcame Ivan Dodig of Bosnia and Brazilian partner Marcelo Melo 6-4, 7-6 in the final doubles match to take place today.