“It’s not like he played bad”, Federer responded. The Swiss pair will play in Saturday’s late match.
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There was a lot at stake for Murray as he simply had to beat Wawrinka to confirm his place in the semi-finals.
Djokovic reached the final by beating Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday.
The top-ranked Serb defeated Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3.
Sunday’s match at the O2 Arena will be the eighth meeting this season between the two players who hold a combined 27 Grand Slam titles.
On Saturday Federer hit his stride after a shaky start, rebounding from a break deficit in the first set to win five of the final six games to gain the edge.
On top of that, there was a bust-up – Wawrinka taking umbrage at what he saw as inappropriate words from Federer’s wife Mirka from the players’ box at a key point in the third set.
“But the performance (against Nadal) definitely gives me reason to believe that I’ll do that”.
A victory would push Djokovic’s record to 82-6 (.932) and give him 11 titles, including a record six Masters shields.
Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka returns the ball to his compatriot Roger Federer during their semi final match of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London, Britain, 21 November 2015.
He will face either Roger Federer or Wawrinka in Sunday’s final.
“He was better than me and he deserved to do what he did during the whole season”, said Nadal.
Given Djokovic had won seven of his last eight matches against Nadal and not dropped a set in three previous meetings this year, it was perhaps unwise to expect anything less than a straightforward afternoon.
Federer broke in the second game of the second set and had two break points in the fourth before Wawrinka pulled it back.
Murray and Wawrinka were both guilty of numerous careless errors, Murray in a first-set tiebreak that he led 4-2.
Wawrinka saved a match point at 2-5 but 17-times grand slam champion Federer closed out victory in little more than an hour. I think he also likes playing me because he has a variety in his game with the slice, he comes to the net, takes away the time from me.
In a rematch of last year’s controversial semifinal in London, the result produced a rematch of a final that never happened last year.
“He has the ideal game against my game”, said Wawrinka, the only man besides Djokovic to win a major this year.
There were questions before the match about how much Murray really wanted to make the semi-finals having made clear next weekend’s Davis Cup final against Belgium was his priority.
Federer can take plenty of encouragement into the final after going 4-0 at the tournament, as he chases a record seventh title, which could see him surpass Andy Murray and finish the year as No.2.
Despite the loss, Nadal kept the positive attitude he has had all week and remains confident of a better season in 2016.
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“This is obviously a big event, one that I would have liked to have done better at over the years”.
