ALL ANDY WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS IS pounds 1 MILLION; TENNIS LATEST... TENNIS LATEST.

Byline: ALIX RAMSAY

THE lure of a pounds 1million Christmas bonus was the perfect pain-killer for Andy Murray yesterday as he headed to London unbowed by defeat.

Murray swears his third-round loss to Radek Stepanek in Paris will not deter him from capturing the mega-money at the season-ending ATP World Tour finals.

The Scot has eight days to prepare for the elite showdown involving the world's top eight men and the fact his three-set reversal in the PNB Paribas Masters shattered his undefeated indoor record for the year will not deter him in his quest for glory.

Murray - who needed six weeks to recover from a wrist injury but returned to scoop the trophy in Valencia last week - said: "By the time I get to London, I'm sure losing to Stepanek is not going to affect me at all.

"My goal was to get in good enough shape to compete well in London and I believe that has been achieved.

"I played a lot of long matches and came through them reasonably well.

"I'll be fit for my first match there. The wrist is fine, which is great. It has been a bit of a nightmare to come back and I had problems with that. But it's been absolutely perfect - I'm glad the wrist is fine.

"I've played a lot matches and it's been perfect. It's just exactly what I needed at this stage of the season after having a break."

Each man pockets pounds 72,000 just for turning up at the O2 Arena for the ATP finals, a further pounds 72,000 for each win in the round-robin leading up to the semis and should he finish as the champion, Murray will head home for Christmas a cool pounds 978,175 richer.

Murray dived in at the deep end after his injury lay-off and has played seven matches in 10 days in two cities.

He picked up a groin strain in Valencia. It was not classed as serious but was still uncomfortable.

Murray said: "It's been there since Wednesday or Thursday last week. I played a lot of long matches. It happens when you don't play for a long time - you just get niggles and little tweaks.

Fighting

"When you play matches, you just push that little bit extra and you can move that little bit quicker than you do in practice because of adrenalin. Sometimes you just tweak things slightly."

Murray will have to be fighting fit next week. Every player is likely to be feeling the effects of a long, hard season but no one will be prepared to givean inch.

All eight have bust a gut to earn their place in the competition and, as the true elite of the game, cannot afford to show a hint of weakness to their closest rivals. Scotland's world No.4 will also have to hold off Juan Martin del Potro as the tennis season draws to a close.

On Monday, the 600 ranking points Murray racked up at the Masters Cup in Shanghai this time last year will be removed from his overall total and that will leave del Potro snapping at his heels for the No.4 spot in the rankings.

If the tall and powerful Argentine star outshines Murray in the stats at the O2, he could overtake the Scot at the end of the season.

While one ranking spot does not sound like a big deal, dropping out of the top four would affect Murray's seeding for the Australian Open - the lower his seeding the moreof the big guns he would haveto face in his bid to get to the final.

Murray will now take a well-earned break, allowing himself a day or two to recover from his European travels before getting back down to work on his final preparations for the ATP glamour show.

Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 7-5 yesterday to set up a semi-final against Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters. Djokovic beat French Open runner-up Robin Soderling 6-4 1-6 6-3.

Gael Monfils gave French fans hope of another home champion by defeating Marin Cilic 3-6 6-4 6-4. Monfils will now play del Potroor Stepanek.

CAPTION(S):

CHASE IS ON: Murray is holding off del Potro