( CNN ) -- The immediate future of the ATP Tour 's showpiece event was confirmed on Wednesday , and that news was quickly followed by proof that men 's tennis has another classic rivalry to savor . Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are longtime friends , but their on-court clashes are showing all the hallmarks of following Federer-Nadal , Borg-McEnroe , Sampras-Agassi and Edberg-Becker in the annals of modern greats . Murray may have had the better of their meetings at the Olympics and the U.S. Open , but Djokovic hit back in Shanghai and now the Serbian has a 9-7 career advantage after another tight tussle in London . The UK capital 's hosting of the ATP World Tour Finals has been confirmed for the next three years , ending fears that it would move because of top players ' unhappiness over the country 's tax laws for top earners . Murray and Djokovic make winning starts at ATP finals . Djokovic won the season-ending tournament in 2008 , its last year in Shanghai , but has not reached the final since . Last year he did n't even make it out of the group stage , fading with fatigue after a breakthrough 12 months that he ended as world No . 1 , but Wednesday 's 4-6 6-3 7-5 win in more than two and half hours was his second in a row this week . It was a match that see-sawed either way , leaving world No . 3 Murray needing to win his third and final match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday if he is to progress in the elite eight-man event . Tsonga also has a win and a loss after being beaten 7-5 3-6 6-1 by Tomas Berdych in Wednesday 's late match . `` It was another great match , another great performance from both of us . I hope that people who watched it agree with my opinion , '' said Djokovic , who plays his final match against sixth-ranked Czech Berdych . `` I did n't expect anything less other than a tough match that went down the wire and was decided on the last point . '' It was the sort of match that has helped bring in 250,000 people each year to London 's O2 Arena . `` This week we look forward to welcoming our one millionth fan through the gates since 2009 , '' ATP Tour chief executive Brad Drewett said after announcing the extension of the tournament 's sponsorship deal with banking group Barclays . `` We thank every one of these passionate tennis fans for helping to create the electrifying atmosphere at The O2 , which has offered a spectacular stage for our biggest event . '' While the tournament , which attracted a television audience of 70 million viewers in 184 countries last year , does not have the prestige of the sport 's four grand slams , the stakes are high -- the prize purse increased to $ 5.5 million this year and will climb to $ 6.5 million by 2014 . Murray cut a forlorn figure last year when he pulled out after his opening match due to injury , but this season he has won his first grand slam under the tutelage of Ivan Lendl -- a five-time winner of the ATP showpiece . `` In about the last two minutes of the match probably is what decided it , '' the Scot said of his latest clash with Djokovic . `` He broke from 15-40 and then I had 15-40 in the next game and did n't break . `` I think both of us probably see each other 's games pretty well . Especially this year , because we 've played so much . You kind of know a little bit what to expect . `` I think that 's why all the matches , especially the last few , have been so close and decided by a few points . The intensity of my matches with him have been extremely high this year . `` I think both of us probably have seen things in each other 's games improve and that 's why there 's a lot of long rallies and the matches are incredibly tight . '' They both have some way to go before matching Roger Federer , who has won the tournament a record six times and on Wednesday was named the ATP Tour 's most popular player by fans for the 10th year in a row . The 31-year-old , who conceded the year-end No.1 ranking to Djokovic when he decided against defending his Paris title last week , also won the ATP 's top sportsmanship award -- voted for by his peers -- for the eighth time in his career . `` We have great matches all over the world , and the recognition is a great feeling . We 're trying to inspire the next generation , '' said the 17-time grand slam champion , who beat Janko Tipsarevic in his opening round-robin match on Tuesday .
World No . 1 Novak Djokovic beats third-ranked Andy Murray at ATP World Tour Finals . Serbian wins his second successive match to move closer to a semifinal place . Murray needs to win his third and final match on Friday to go through in London . The tournament will stay in UK capital for the next three years after extending deal .