Rafael Nadal of Spain pulled off a minor upset in the round robin stage of the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals, beating Andy Murray of Scotland in straight sets, 6-4 6-1, at The O2 in London, United Kingdom.

The Nadal vs. Murray match lasted just over an hour and a half as Murray struggled with his serve, especially in the one-sided second set. Murray won the last match-up between the two rivals, which was during the finals of the 2015 Madrid Open, 6-3 6-2, earlier this year. This time though, Nadal improved to 16-6 all-time against Murray.

Murray had four double-faults in the match-up and was just 22 of 51 on his first serves. Nadal took advantage of the off-rhythm Murray and won 36 percent (8 of 22) of his first serves and 66 percent (19 of 29) in his second serves.

"It is an important victory, because that put me in a good position to try to be in the semi-finals, and at the same time I have had a big day against a great player on a tough surface," Nadal shared via the tournament’s official website. "I'm just happy [with] the way that I played today, happy the way I was working. Just another step for me be able to play at that level, against such a great player, is good news. Happy for that. Just want to try to keep working the same way to keep confirming that I am in the completely right direction."

Nadal has struggled with injuries in recent years but appears to be returning to top form against the elite players in the game. Murray admitted post-match that Nadal was the one who had control in the entire match.

"He was able to dictate most of the points and he was hitting the ball harder than he was at the beginning of the match. I was starting to drop the ball shorter. Obviously when he's inside the court, he's extremely, extremely good. He can move his forehand around very well. He can use all of the angles on the court and make you do a lot of moving,” Murray said in the post-match interview.

Nadal is now the frontrunner to make the semifinals in his group with two wins and will face his compatriot David Ferrer in his final match in the round-robin stage. Murray will face Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in a match that should decide the other semifinalist in the group.

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