For all the glories Rafael Nadal has harvested in his brilliant tennis career, one great prize has managed to elude him: the year-end title at the ATP World Tour Finals.
This time of year, Nadal has usually limped to the finish line, if he reached it at all. Four times in the past decade, the 29-year-old Spaniard wasn't even able to suit up for the tour's year-end event.
But after his resounding 6-4, 6-1 victory against No. 2-ranked Andy Murray on Wednesday, Nadal looks like a man intent on winning his first season-ending championship.
Nadal, who advanced to the semifinals when No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka defeated No. 7 David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 in the late-night match at the O2 Arena in London, will face the winner of Friday's match between Murray and Wawrinka.
Nadal's physical woes over the past several years (wrist, knees, back and appendix, to name a few) have left him lacking in confidence and, therefore, made him more tentative on the court. After losing at the French Open for only the second time in his career, Rafa has slowly built himself back up. He's now in a good place, both physically and mentally.
"This year, because [of] things that we talked about enough, I was just worried about how to hit the ball, to don't miss, more than try to hit the ball where I need to hit the ball to damage the opponent," he explained in his postmatch news conference. "This year, I have been more worried about myself than the opponents for a lot of matches. That's enough, no? That's impossible [if you want] to compete at the highest level.
"Today, I feel free. I feel [enjoyment] on court. That don't mean I am going to play well on every match. That means I am happy."
And historically, that is enough for Rafa to beat just about anyone.
Nadal's zeal could be seen in a single statistic: He won 11 of 13 points at the net. Murray, meanwhile, served poorly and failed to force even a single break point.
Murray himself called Nadal a favorite for the title -- and next year's majors.
"Obviously for a few months this year he was struggling for form a little bit," Murray told reporters. "But I think almost every player goes through that at some stage during their career. I think a lot of the media had a lot of doubts about him. I think a lot of the players still felt like, providing he stayed injury-free, that he would raise his game again and compete at the top of the game."
Doubles semifinals still undecided
In a showdown of Group Fleming/McEnroe's two top teams, No. 2 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau handled No. 3 Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 7-6 (3). Earlier, No. 6 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.
Rojer and Tecau are now 2-0 and into the semifinals. The other three teams in Group Fleming/McEnroe are all technically still alive heading into Friday's play.
On tap for Thursday
• ESPN3: Watch all of the matches live, starting at 7 a.m. ET
It will be a day of decision, with semifinal berths on the line in both singles and doubles.
No. 2 seed Roger Federer (2-0), already through to the semifinals, plays No. 8 Kei Nishikori (1-1), while top seed Novak Djokovic (1-1) steps in against No. 6 Tomas Berdych (0-2).
Djokovic can actually advance to the semifinals with a loss, but only if he falls to Berdych in three sets and Federer defeats Nishikori. In that scenario, Federer wins the group and Djokovic finishes second.
In doubles, it's a winner-take-all scenario when No. 1 Bob and Mike Bryan take on the No. 4 team of Jamie Murray and John Peers. Both teams are 1-1, and the winner will advance to the semifinals. No fewer than four teams are still alive in the race for the No. 1 year-end ranking; the Bryans are looking for their 11th crown atop the doubles world.