ATP Finals: Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares beat Lukasz Kubot & Marcelo Melo to reach semis

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are into the semi-finals for the second year in a row

Britain's Jamie Murray and Brazil's Bruno Soares made it through to the semi-finals with victory over top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo at the ATP Finals in London.

Fourth seeds Murray and Soares knew that only a win would do against a pair who had already qualified, and they prevailed 6-2 6-4 in 73 minutes.

They will play Henri Kontinen and John Peers at 18:00 GMT on Saturday.

Earlier, Kubot and Melo will face Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus at 14:00.

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Murray had felt a slight back issue in his previous match, but there was no sign of it as he and Soares raced into a 5-0 lead and had three points for a love set, only to let a 40-0 lead slip.

Any glimmer of resistance was snuffed out when Brazilian Melo netted a volley to drop serve, and with it the set, in game eight.

An early break in the second set was handed back by a Murray double fault, and a 3-0 lead threatened to turn into a deficit when they faced three break points at 3-3.

Murray held firm, however, clenching his fist after saving the third with a smash, and a loose Melo service game saw the contest end when Poland's Kubot sent a volley over the baseline.