Andy Murray vs Milos Raonic, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2016: Where to watch live

Andy Murray and Milos Raonic will each bid to make their first final at the ATP World Tour Finals when they clash in the first semi-final at The O2 Arena in London

Where to watch live

Murray vs Raonic starts at 2pm GMT on Saturday (19 November) and is live on Sky Sports 3HD, BBC Two HD and BBC Radio Five Live sports extra.

Preview

Andy Murray will seek to take another step towards claiming the year-end world number one when he takes on Milos Raonic for a place in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Neither player has ever reached the showcase final at the season-ending tour championships, in what would be a breakthrough achievement for whoever prevails.

World number one Murray progressed from the John McEnroe group with a 100% record, seeing off Stanislas Wawrinka in his final round robin match to book his place in the semi-finals. The Briton produce his most polished display yet to send the US Open champion spiralling out of the tournament and edge ahead of Novak Djokovic in the race to end 2016 atop of the ATP rankings.

Murray has won his last 22 matches in a row, equalling a career record, and won four of his last five tournaments. Though he has avoided facing Djokovic in the first last four clash, he faces an opponent who possesses plenty of threat in Raonic.

The Canadian's straight sets wins over Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem were enough to send him into a knock-out stages for the first time, progress which has been made while he continues to nurse a thigh tear. Raonic withdrew from his last scheduled meeting with Murray at the Paris Masters – a victory which sent the Olympic champion to world number one – threatening his participation in London.

The French capital would have played host to the sixth meeting of 2016 between Murray and Raonic, with the former having prevailed on each occasion. At the Australian Open Murray battled back from two sets to one down to win in five, before completing a routine victory at Wimbledon. A straightforward win at the Cincinnati Masters following for Murray, but he could face an entirely different challenge on Saturday [19 November].

Raonic's booming serves have benefitted from the pace of the surface in Greenwich, a delivery which even Djokovic had problem conquering during his straight-sets win earlier in the week. Murray has a good record against big-serving opponents and in front of a home crowd will be eager to keep his winning run going.

What the players say

Andy Murray: "It's a big match, obviously. Milos, you know, he obviously serves big, goes for his shots. He moves forward when he has the chance. I think he probably likes the conditions here. It's a little bit quicker.

"Yeah, you don't normally get loads of opportunities against the big servers. Then it comes down to when you do get those chances, whether you take them or not. And this year when I've played him, I've created a few opportunities in the matches. When they've come, I've been pretty clinical. I'll need to be the same tomorrow if I want to win.

"But got a big match obviously against Milos now, a tough one. They played a really close match I think the other day. There were opportunities on both sides. I'm certainly not taking anything for granted. I know it will be hard. I know I'll need to play well to win. But, yeah, I feel like my game's in a good place. Played much better today than I did a couple days ago. Physically I feel good. So looking forward to the weekend."

Milos Raonic: "I'm very happy to be in the situation I'm in right now. I'm very happy I was able to play. Obviously it's a big bonus to be able to play at this high level I've been playing so far in all three of my matches.

"I've played Andy many times this year. I haven't gotten the better of him. He's been playing well. He's been playing a lot of matches. I think the one thing that I might have is how much he has really on his shoulders right now, a lot of consecutive matches, and as well what he's playing for.

"I have to try to do my best to try to accentuate that as much as possible in my own favour so I can really get the most out of myself and hopefully be able to get on top of him for once this year. I believe I've only lost to world number twos here. Andy was two at both times, no? So hopefully I can change my fate in the next turnaround."

Betting odds (source Coral):

Andy Murray 1/4 vs 3/1 Milos Raonic

Head-to-head record: Murray 8-3 Raonic. Last match Paris Masters (hard) Murray bt Raonic W/O

Previous meetings at the ATP World Tour Finals: N/A