Britain's Jamie Murray and his partner Bruno Soares cruised into the last four of the ATP Finals by beating Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot.
Melo and Kubot are numbers one and two respectively in the world doubles rankings but they were outclassed at London's O2 Arena as Scot Murray and the excellent Soares won 6-2 6-4.
This was an all-or-nothing tie for Murray and Brazilian Soares, who knew success would mean progressing as group winners while defeat would see them eliminated.
Their triumph therefore earns them top spot but arguably a tougher semi-final draw, given they now face defending champions Henri Kontinen and Murray's former partner John Peers on Saturday. Kontinen, who lifted the Wimbledon mixed doubles trophy alongside Britain's Heather Watson last year, and Peers have won both meetings between the teams this season.
Melo and Kubot, meanwhile, go through second in the group and will meet Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus.
"We played great again from start to finish really," Murray assessed before turning his attention to Saturday evening's semi-final.
"It's going to be tough again, obviously. We lost to them twice this year, both in tie-breaks, close matches. I mean, they're a power team, big serves, having cracks at returns. It's not like you get a lot of rhythm playing against them.
"In saying that, I think both matches we did a pretty good job of kind of getting balls in play, winning points on their serve. We pretty much did everything except win really.
"I think after the two matches we played here, I don't see why we should be worried about going to play them or anything like that."
There was little unknown between the pairs across the net, with Soares and Melo playing regularly together for Brazil in the Davis Cup while Murray has also partnered Melo in the past.
But, whether placed first or second, Kubot and Melo had already qualified regardless of this result and there was a noticeable difference in the teams' intensities, particularly in the opening set.
Two stinging Soares returns earned him and Murray a break on Melo's serve and then Kubot was broken too when his own lob dropped long on a deciding deuce.
Down 5-0, Melo lashed an overhead long and was fortunate not to catch a ball girl when he irritably whacked a ball in her direction.
Murray and Soares squandered five set points - four on Soares' serve - but finally converted a sixth when a quick exchange at the net ended with Soares sweeping a backhand down the line.
An early break of serve put Murray and Soares in command in the second as well but Murray gifted a break back with a double fault and then had to save three more break points at 3-3.
The threat of a Kubot-Melo comeback was fleeting, however, as Melo double-faulted at 5-4 before a Kubot volley landed long to confirm their opponents' victory.
Related links
