MIAMI, April 4, 2015
The 96-man-draw has been whittled down to just four players at the Miami Open by Itaú. All of them were in action on Friday for the semi-finals with three of the world’s top 10 players.
Third seed Andy Murray reached his 13th ATP Masters 1000 final beating Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 42 minutes. The British number one won 80% of his first service points and capitalized on two out of his six break points he gained. Murray levelled the head to head record between the two at 6-6.
“I felt like I served well,” said Murray after reaching his fourth Miami final. “It was tricky from one end of the court. We’re basically serving right into the sun at that time of day, so I had to take a little bit off the serve. On the second serve it was very tough to see. But I thought when I was behind in games, like the last game, for example, I came up with some big serves and was able to dictate a lot of the rallies from the baseline as well. I was moving him around a lot. That was good.”
Andy Murray has reached his fourth Miami final (photo: Miami Open)
Murray seeks his second title at Crandon Park since lifting the trophy in 2013. The 27-year-old Scot has to face Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final. The world number one and defending champion beat John Isner in the night session winning 7-6, 6-2. With ten aces, the Serb even hit one more than the big US-American. After a close and even first set, Djokovic broke Isner twice in the second to seal victory in 90 minutes and is only one win away to retain the title in Miami.
“I’m glad that I managed to realize everything that I intended tactically before the match,” said Djokovic. “It’s always tough to play somebody that serves that well. At the end of the day, it is important to hang in there mentally, be patient. I used the court very well, and [I’m] pleased with the performance.”
Novak Djokovic has reached his 32nd ATP Masres1000 final (photo: Miami Open)
Murray and Djokovic will meet for the third time this season already. The 27-year-old from Belgrade only lost one set in the Australian Open final and clinched a straight set victory in the semi-final at Indian Wells last week. Djokovic also leads the overall head to head record 17-8. Murray’s last win came in the Wimbledon final 2013.
