It seems the names of Andy Murray and David Ferrer are destined to be together throughout the run-in to next month's ATP World Tour Finals.
For the past month the pair have been battling it out, side by side, for one of the remaining places in the eight-man event, each man having recorded a win so far in their head to heads. Providing that both Murray and Ferrer win in Valencia today, against Kevin Anderson and Thomas Bellucci respectively, they will meet for a third successive week. Although the last three open places in London will only be decided by results in next week's Paris Masters, their scheduled semi-final match will go some way towards sorting things out.
Both men did their job, and did it well yesterday, easing through their second-round ties in straight sets. While Ferrer, the top seed, saw off his fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2, Murray performed just as convincingly as he overcame Italy's Fabio Fognini with little trouble, winning 6-2, 6-4.
Fognini's win over Murray in the Davis Cup in April gave him a 2-1 head-to-head advantage but the Scot levelled things up with one of his cleanest matches of late. Having struggled with his second serve in the first round, Murray did not face a single break point and cruised through the first set, before breaking for 3-2 in the second and never letting Fognini back in.
"I'm improving," said Murray, who has now won 15 of his last 17 matches. "I hope I can reach the consistency I had before the [back] operation, but I feel good and comfortable."
Having been named as the champion in Valencia in its inaugural year of 2009, Murray clearly enjoys himself in the city, not least the warm temperatures which make the time between indoor matches that bit more enjoyable.
The tournament is housed among the stunning architecture of the City of the Arts and Sciences and, although one of Murray's matches in 2009 was among the coldest of his career when they were unable to close the doors, his form here is warming up nicely.
Anderson is likely to present a tougher test for Murray than Fognini but the relative slowness of the courts may dent the ferocity of Anderson's huge serve. Murray beat Anderson in straight sets at Wimbledon and, with 90 points available for reaching the semi-finals, the incentive is there.
Murray lies in a qualifying position of eighth, with Ferrer 10th, the pair split by Canada's Milos Raonic. He has dropped down the standings in recent weeks but yesterday he claimed a place in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors in Basle, just.
A semi-finalist at Wimbledon, Raonic held his nerve in a final-set tiebreak to edge out Donald Young 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 and now plays Belgium's David Goffin, who is on a winning streak of 14 matches. Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria was also able to progress to the last eight in Basle, when he eased past Vasek Pospisil of Canada.
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