Murray magic books final spot

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:03

The fifth-seeded Scot, inspired by a match-turning flash of inspiration in the second set, reached his second major final with a 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory in a shade over three hours on Rod Laver Arena. It was the first time Murray had lost a set at the tournament and after breezing through the draw and knocking defending champion Rafael Nadal out in the previous round, the Scot admits he is in rare touch.

“This is the best I’ve played at a slam,” he said. “Obviously the match against Rafa was great. The majority of the match was great as well. I feel good. Physically I’m going to be fresh for the final.”

Murray will play the winner of Friday night’s semi-final between world number one Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday night’s final.

Murray lost to Federer in his only previous major final at the US Open in 2008 and admitted he would like the chance to meet the Swiss again.

“Federer’s record in slams is amazing. So it would be incredibly tough to beat him,” he said. “But if I was to win a slam against him in the final, it would make it extra special.”

Murray had looked in trouble early against the 14th seed Cilic as he was broken twice to concede the first set. The Scot was showing signs of frustration as the Croatian dominated the match with his booming forehand to run Murray around the court.

The momentum of the match turned, however, on a single moment of brilliance from Murray as he grabbed the opening break, and the initiative, in the second set. Murray first ran down a net cord and when Cilic then shovelled a lob over him he somehow made enough ground to allow him to flick a forehand past his stunned rival.

“That was really important because I don’t want to say the match was slipping away from me, but the momentum was definitely with him,” he said. “A few things weren’t quite going my way and he played some really aggressive tennis and was putting me under a lot of pressure.

“I was obviously happy I managed to turn it around because, like I say, he started to dictate the match. That shot made a big difference.”

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