Andy Murray remains positive for the ATP finals and promises to improve next year

The British no. 1 has decided to stay with the rest of the participants in a hotel near Waterloo for the duration of the Championships rather than heading back to the home comforts of his Wimbledon pad between matches at the O2.

That means the quickest way to get to 'work' is to take the sponsor-provided cruiser along the Thames - a bracing November experience to blow away the cobwebs.

It is a process that is still ongoing, Murray claims, with regard to the woman who has technically been shaping his career since the start of the grass court season.

Although Murray won three of his five tournament in the build-up to this London finale, Mauresmo did not appear courtside between the end of the US Open and midway through the tournament in Valencia.

And Murray believes it will only be at the beginning of next season that the pairing should be judged.

"To be honest, she is just interesting to speak to , she has led an interesting life, she was obviously a fantastic tennis player and we get on well with each other," he said. "And we both have dogs.

"There is not one thing that has surprised me about her. She is good fun to have around. My experience is that coaching relationships have taken four or five months before I start to feel the benefits and I think that next year I will really see the things I have been working on and hopefully put them into practice and on to the match court."

The more immediate concern is remaining in the current competition, with defeat to Milos Raonic tonight likely to spell the end of Murray's round robin campaign even before the final head-to-head against Roger Federer on Thursday.

After losing in the semi-finals in three previous tournaments, Murray had hoped that a change of approach might help him go one step further.

"In the past I've stayed at my place on some or all of the nights, but this time I've been getting the boat along the Thames to the O2. It certainly wakes you up!

"Staying in a hotel does mean that unfortunately, unlike during Wimbledon, my girlfriend Kim Sears isn't cooking for me in the evenings - at least it's unfortunate for me, she's probably delighted!"

Yesterday, Group A was the focus and it was Stan Wawrinka cooking on gas, beating Tomas Berdych 6-1, 6-1 in just 58 minutes.

In the evening session, top seed Novak Djokovic was in just as ominous form, blitzing US Open champion Marin Cilic off court in just 56 minutes with an identical 6-1, 6-1 victory.