Murray’s Australian Open historic run continues

Friday, 29 January 2010 00:00

On Thursday night, Andy Murray became the first British player to reach the Australian open final since John Lloyd in 1977 and the first to reach two Grand Slam finals in 72 years, after defeating Croatian Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday night in Melbourne.

The fifth-seeded Scot will try to become Australian Open champion, the first from Great Britain since Fred Perry in 1934, by capturing his first Grand Slam title. He finished runner-up to World No-1 Roger Federer in the 2008 US Open final.

“It’s really important (to play another final),” said Murray. “I mean, after last year, when I had a few tough losses in the Grand Slams. It’s nice. It’s what you work for…”

Murray will face either Top seed and three-time former champion Federer tenth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who play their semi-final Friday night.

Sixteenth-seeded Cilic overcame a nervous start and dominated Murray in the first set, breaking the Scot for the second time in the 9th game for a 6-3 partial win in 57 minutes.

The Croatian kept the Scot on the run at the start of the second set, but Murray created a break opportunity in the fifth game, and sent the fans in Rod Laver Arena to their feet when, stranded at the net, he ran down Cilic’s lob and hit a winner with his back to the net.

That was the turning point of the match for Murray, who came back on the court a different player. After looking pretty flat up to that spectacular point, he found renewed energy and power, while errors started creeping in Cilic’s game. The Scot held serve to take the second set and level the math at one apiece.

Cilic, who came into the semi-final having played three consecutive grueling five-set matches, and had spent about 18 total hours on court, showed subtle signs of fatigue. A much fresher Murray, who lost his first set of the tournament in this match, started intelligently to move the Croatian from side to side, and forward with some well timed drop shots.

Murray took control of the match, winning the third set in 45 minutes and dominating the fourth to reach his second Grand Slam championship final. He’s the first No 5 seed to reach the title match since Michael Chang in 1996.

“This is the best I’ve played at a Slam,” said Murray.

The Scot improved to 4-1 overall against Cilic, and will look for his 15th ATP Tour title in Sunday’s final.

Cilic, the first Croatian to reach the Australian Open semi-finals, will break into the top 10 of the ATP Rankings on Monday.

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Murray’s Australian Open historic run continues

Murray’s Australian Open historic run continues

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