Out-of-sorts Murray beaten by Nadal

Andy Murray suffered a collapse in form as a rejuvenated Rafael Nadal won their group match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Nadal edged a tight first set and then raced clear in the second to win 6-4 6-1 at the O2 Arena.

The Spaniard could qualify for the semi-finals on Wednesday, depending on the result of the evening match between Stan Wawrinka and David Ferrer.

Murray plays Wawrinka in his last group match on Friday and can still progress.

The 28-year-old Scot will travel to Belgium next week for Britain’s first Davis Cup final since 1978.

Nadal dominates Murray

Murray practised on clay last week, with the Davis Cup in mind, before switching back to indoor hard courts and winning his opening match at the O2 against Ferrer on Sunday.

Another win would have assured him of the year-end number two ranking, but that will have to wait after he was outplayed by an impressive Nadal.

The Spaniard, seeded fifth, recovered an early break and began to dominate with his forehand, drawing errors from an increasingly frustrated Murray and punishing the Briton with some sharp finishing at the net.

Murray clung on in the face of five break points but played a poor service game at 4-5 to fall 0-40 down, and Nadal closed out the set with a volley.

Neither man had been serving well but Murray’s disintegrated in the second set, two double faults contributing to another break to love in game two.

By the closing stages he was winning just 10% of points behind his second serve and Nadal was happy to capitalise, breaking once again and firing away a forehand winner on match point.

Nadal beat Wawrinka in his opening match and has two wins from two

BBC Sport