Sunday 20 November 2016 18:34, UK
Andy Murray battled back from a set and a break down to beat Milos Raonic and book his place in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
The world No 1 also had to save a match point in a third-set tie break before eventually prevailing 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (11-9) in a tournament-record three hours and 38 minutes.
The result extended Murray's winning run to a career-best 23 matches and sealed his first appearance in the final at the O2 Arena.
He will play Novak Djokovic on Sunday for both the title and the year-end No 1 world ranking.
Murray's reaction
"It was a pretty amazing tie break, some great points, and I just managed to get the point at the end. The longer the match went on, the louder and better the crowd got. This is what we play for: for matches like this and arenas like this.
"It was a great match. It is one of the harder matches indoors; they are never normally this long. We had so many long games and long points. It was really tough.
"I'm obviously tired. I'll just give it my best effort tomorrow. It's going to be tough, but I'll give it my best shot."
Shot of the match
Raonic wins a mammoth rally in the third set by turning defence into attack and then sending an unstoppable backhand down the line.
Expert analysis
Peter Fleming: "It was remarkable. It was such a strange match. Andy Murray seemed to be in a coma for a set and three games but then roused himself and Raonic rolled over. The third set was so gripping, but it wasn't until the tie break that both guys answered the bell."
Greg Rusedski: "Absolutely brilliant that third set from Andy Murray. He breaks another record - 23 wins in a row. It's hard enough doing 10 in a row. We have the dream final, as long Novak Djokovic gets through. He has got to get in the ice baths and he has 24 hours to get ready, because he had to be tired in that third set."
The match
Murray was off the pace in the opening set and although he managed to hold serve up to 5-5, he was broken in the 11th game as Raonic drew first blood.
The Canadian then broke again in the third game of the second set and with Murray appearing visibly agitated, it looked like his remarkable recent form had run its course.
However, the 29-year-old Briton performed a stunning turnaround over the next few minutes both mentally and physically, breaking immediately back and then almost gaining a second break as Raonic suddenly suffered a collapse.
The underdog managed to compose himself and took the set to a tie break, but Murray bossed it right from the first point and the match went to a decider.
Both players held serve up to 4-4, only to then break each other twice each in succession as nerves crept in.
Murray once again seized the early initiative in the third-set tie break and earned three match points, yet Raonic saved them all before passing up on a match point of his own.
Murray then engineered a fourth match point and this time took it when Raonic fired into the net to end a compelling, if not high-quality, match.
Watch every match of the ATP World Tour Finals live on Sky Sports, or follow live on skysports.com/tennis and the Sky Sports app.
