ATP World Tour Finals: British No 1 Andy Murray hopes for O2 backing on Sunday

Andy Murray is hoping to end his season on a high at the World Tour Finals in London

Andy Murray hopes to get the backing of London's O2 when he opens the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday against Kei Nishikori.

The 27-year-old will be playing in England for the first time since his last-ditch intervention in the debate on the eve of September's referendum.

Live on Sky Sports Live Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals 2014 Day One: Afternoon November 9, 2014 12:30pm

Having insisted he would not make his feelings on the subject public, Murray sent a late-night message on Twitter only a few hours ahead of the polls opening, saying: 'Huge day for Scotland today! no campaign negativity last few days totally swayed my view on it. excited to see the outcome. lets do this!'

Barely 24 hours later it became clear the vote had gone against independence, leaving Murray to deal with the potentially damaging fall-out.

He headed straight off to Asia to play a series of tournaments and will no doubt hope the issue has faded into the background by the time he takes to the court against the US Open finalist.

But, having taken most of his career to win over a section of the English public, Murray knows there is a possibility they will have retreated from his corner again.

He said: 'The crowd has always given me very good support when I've played here and when I've played at Wimbledon and Queen's throughout my whole career.

'I hope this week that's the same but, if not, I'll do my job, I'll give my best effort regardless and hopefully win back some fans.'

Whirlwind time

World No 6 Murray picked up his first three trophies of the season and booked his spot in London following a whirlwind six tournaments in six weeks across two continents.

A week's rest has been very welcome and he is confident the heavy workload will not adversely affect his chances of success at the O2.

Murray said: 'It's always hard to judge until you're on the match court but this week in practice I've been okay. The practices are hard, I've been practising with the best players in the world, so that's always tough, but it's good.

'I have time to rest after this tournament and if I give everything I've got and fight right to the end of each match I'll give myself some opportunities and hopefully I'll get some wins.' Andy Murray

'Winning matches is how you play yourself into form and that's what I really needed to do at this stage of the year.'

And speaking ahead of his meeting with Japan's Nishikori, Murray says he will give 100 per cent in trying to win the tournament, despite a tough last few months on tour.

'It's been a tough year for me,' Murray told Sky Sports. 'I want to go out there and enjoy the event and leave everything out on the court.

'I have time to rest after this tournament and if I give everything I've got and fight right to the end of each match I'll give myself some opportunities and hopefully I'll get some wins.'

Murray leads the head-to-head meetings against Nishikori 3-0, although he is not expecting an easy outcome against the US Open finalist and world No 5 at the tournament in Greenwich.

'He's a tough player. He's won a lot of matches this year and is a different player to when I played him before.

'It's a new experience for him. He's dealt with most of his new experiences very well with first slam semis and getting to finals. He's beaten more top players than he ever has.'

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