Greg Garber, Senior Writer 9y

Murray rediscovers winning ways

Tennis

After losing to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the US Open, Andy Murray wasn't exactly focused on qualifying for the ATP year-end event in London, where he happens to live. No, he was trying to avoid finishing outside the top 10.

Rock-bottom turned out to be No. 12, a dubious level the 27-year-old Scot hadn't seen in six years.

Well, in the space of six weeks the two-time Grand Slam champion has found some of his former fire, winning 20 of 22 matches. After failing to reach a final since 2013 Wimbledon, Murray did it three times, taking the titles in Shenzen, China, Vienna, Austria and Valencia, Spain.

Thursday he won his second match at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, a surprisingly easy 6-3, 6-3 victory over Grigor Dimitrov. As a result, Murray is into the quarterfinals -- and, more importantly, has earned a berth in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals field. Meanwhile, Dimitrov, the ascendant 23-year-old from Bulgaria, is out.

This one was over in all of 69 minutes. Murray won 27 of his 29 first-serve points, an incredible 93 percent. Now Murray has qualified for the year-end event for the seventh consecutive year. Last year, however, he did not play following back surgery.

"Coming back from a surgery is not easy at all, and I learned that," Murray said afterward. "The first few months of this year it was very difficult, and I had to dig deep at the end of this year in some ways to salvage the year, if you like.

"But, yeah, it's been a good year. Not been my best year, but I would've signed up for being in this position when I had the surgery last year, I think."

Murray won their first three career encounters, but Dimitrov was 2-0 in 2014, knocking Murray out of the semifinals in Acapulco and, most notably, the quarters at Wimbledon -- in straight sets.

This is the sixth consecutive week Murray has played, an unusual occurrence for a top player this time of year.

"Yeah, it's been a strong, strong few weeks," Murray said. "In terms of an achievement, I don't know. For me, I would be more happy that I've been able to play this much tennis.

"Would've been easy after some of the weeks and some of the matches to have, you know, waited to see what everyone else is going to do and not played here or whatever. Because [the] last few weeks have been tough, but I've had some good wins."

To review, five players have now qualified for the Barclays, which begins on Nov. 9: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. The three remaining spots will be decided over the next three days in Paris.

Paris has been a model of stability; the top-12 seeded players all made it through top the third round, with only three seeded players (No. 13 John Isner, No. 15 Gilles Simon and No. 16 Fabio Fognini) that failed to get there.

Seven of the eight quarterfinalists are top eight seeds.

Berdych, Nishikori one away

Tomas Berdych, the 29-year-old Czech player, defeated Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-3 and finds himself one victory from securing his fifth straight year-end appearance.

Friday, Berdych will meet No. 14 seed Kevin Anderson, who knocked off No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in a sizzling match, 6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (3), in 2 hours, 50 minutes. It was Anderson's third victory of the season over the Australian Open champion.

To say that Berdych has had the big-serving Anderson's number is an understatement; in the past three years, Berdych holds an 11-0 edge and has won an amazing 27 of 31 sets.

Kei Nishikori hung on to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 and now he, too, is one win shy of making the Barclays field.

Nishikori's record in decisive third sets improved to an impressive 19-2 and he's now won 51 ATP matches, 14 more than his best previous mark. He'll play David Ferrer in Friday's quarterfinals.

Ferrer, Raonic still alive

Ferrer defeated fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2 and finds himself two wins away from a guaranteed spot in London.

Like Murray, playing his sixth tournament in a row, Ferrer was sharp and Verdasco -- as he sometimes is -- was a virtual no-show. The match required less than 55 minutes; Ferrer won 55 of 81 points.

Ferrer likely will have to reach the final in Paris to continue his season.

Milos Raonic attended to his business as well, dispatching Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 7-6 (7). He'll have to win the tournament -- Raonic has never won a Masters-level event -- to wind up in London.

No. 1 still in play

The night matches featured the two men fighting for the No. 1 year-end ranking: Djokovic and Federer. Both of them, it turned out, were facing French players in the intimacy of the 13,900-seat Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy.

Federer had no problem with qualifier Lucas Pouille, dispatching him 6-4, 6-4. He'll meet Raonic in a match that could end the 23-year-old Canadian's season.

Djokovic defeated Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6 (2). He'll next play Murray in what could be a charged quarterfinal.

All of Friday' quarterfinal matches can be seen on ESPN3, starting at 9 a.m. ET.

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