Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares advanced to the Semi-Finals of the ATP World Tour Finals after a 6-2 6-4 victory over Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.
Before the crucial doubles match the teams had met four times with Kubot and Melo winning on three of those occasions.
Murray and Soares, who needed to win the match to make the Semi-Finals, made a fast start as they forced their opponents to a number of unforced errors.
The fourth seeds broke serve twice as they raced to a 5-0 lead over a rather subdued Kubot and Melo. The Polish-Brazilian team had already made the last four and were looking to remain undefeated and secure qualification for the Bryan Brothers.
Despite winning the next two games, the top seeds were forced to surrender as they lost the opening set 6-2 to the British-Brazilian combination.
Kubot and Melo continued to struggle in the second set as the Brazilian was clearly struggling with a hip problem. As a result Murray and Soares raced to a 3-0 as Murray’s net work was on fire tonight.
However the year end World number ones didn’t go down without a fight as they broke serve with some effective Kubot returning to reduce the deficit to 3-2.
However despite their best efforts, Kubot and Melo eventually lost as Murray and Soares broke in the ninth game to seal the match and a place in the last four.
Murray and Soares now advance to the Semi-Finals as group winners and will now play Henri Kontinen and John Peers tomorrow evening.
While Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo will hope to perform at a higher standard tomorrow when they face Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus in the Semi-Finals tomorrow.
In the other match today Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic ended their season on a win, with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Bob and Mike Bryan.
The Austrian-Croatian duo completed a serving masterclass as they played their first ever match at the O2 Arena after they took the place of Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers. They withdrew due to a back injury to Ivan Dodig/
The Bryan Brothers have also played their last match of the season after Murray and Soares’ win saw them eliminated from the ATP World Tour Finals.
