Federer found himself in a hole early on against Murray, losing his serve in the opening game of the match. But the Briton couldn’t hang on. The 17-time Grand Slam champion broke back to level the score at 4-4, and then recovered from a 3-1 deficit in the tie-breaker to win the opening set and take control of the contest.

In the second set, Federer lost only two points on serve and broke Murray twice. The second seed now has the chance to win a third successive World Tour Finals title on Monday following his 7-6, 6-2 triumph over the local favourite.