Andy Murray has advanced to the final of the 2016 Australian Open with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Milos Raonic.
Advertisement
The Rod Laver Arena was left slightly stunned by just how quickly Raonic bolted out of the gates in Friday’s semi-final, breaking Murray in the opener before coming back from 40-love down on his serve to claim a two-game lead.
It will also be the first time two brothers have played the singles and doubles finals at the same Grand Slam after Jamie Murray reached the men’s doubles final with his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.
The tournament’s second seed weathered an early storm and showcased his elite stamina in the five-set barnburner, where an apparent injury in the fourth set saw the tide turn against Raonic, who was leading at the time.
“I think he will clean that up and he needs to”, Eurosport pundit Rusedski told Press Association Sport.
Raonic took a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker, allowed Murray to close to 5-4 before winning the final two points on a Murray error into the net and an ace.
Murray, meantime, reached the ninth Grand Slam final of his career. The second-seeded Scot punched his ticket into the last four by beating Alexander Zverev, Sam Groth, Joao Sousa, Bernard Tomic, and David Ferrer.
Murray recovered to break the Canadian in the seventh game of the fourth, holding his nerve to win 6-4 and force a decider.
“Because far from where we were 14 months ago, we’re both very different and I think improved players from then”, Raonic said.
“Things have happened with family at other stages but not in the middle of a Grand Slam and with Kim heavily pregnant as well”.
Murray is one of the best returners in the game and his counter-attacking style is often well suited to power merchants, whose movement can be sloppy and groundstrokes less reliable.
His form has certainly been impressive, with the outstanding performance being his five-set win over fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the last 16. Raonic’s serve can be deadly, but Murray’s return might be deadlier.
Murray admits there have been times on court when he has been wondering what is going on back in England and he is looking forward to getting home, hopefully, in time to be there for the birth of his first child. He has only lost two sets in the tournament, against Sousa and Ferrer.
“It’s a great opportunity for me”. He beat Roger Federer in four sets on Thursday.
“Ideally, I’d have played that next game and then held and then we’d have had the break”.
The top-ranked and defending champion Djokovic is bidding to win his sixth Australian Open, and to continue a run that earned him three of the four Grand Slam trophies in 2015. “I don’t think that’s like myself to do, but sometimes it’s a little bit too much to keep in”.
“Regardless of what situation I was in, I was going to play and try to do whatever I could”, the 25-year-old Canadian said.
Milos Raonic of Canada celebrates after defeating Gael Monfils of France in their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. Still, Murray needs to play with his first serve as much as he can.
Advertisement
The current and former no. 1 will lock horns again in a battle that at the end of previous year evened out at 22 games apiece.
