British tennis player, Andy Murray (5) has reached the Men’s Singles final of the 2011 Australian Open tennis championships – for the second year running – after battling back from a set to love down against Spain’s David Ferrer (9) to record a hard-fought 3-1 victory.
Murray eventually discovered his touch to lift the semi-final 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 7-6 (7-2).
Murray seemed relieved to have made it through the toughest test of this Grand Slam tournament he has yet faced, but, it is felt, he will have to step up his game a little to overcome World Number Three – and number three seed – Novak Djokovic in this weekend’s final, on Sunday.
However, Murray showed his class today when, after a set and a half of ordinary tennis – by his own high standards – he raced away in the second set tie-breaker to a 6-0 lead. This burst of tennis clearly demonstrating that, when required, Murray has got reserves to draw on, and can shift up a gear if necessary.
At times, though, as Murray readily admitted post-match, his game drifted in and out, though, when he was good, he was awesome.
Djokovic, whom Murray is to face in the final, came through his Semi in excellent style, beating one of the greatest ever players, Roger Federer in the process. Federer’s back-hand let him down badly in that game, and Murray, in his semi-final, appeared to have caught his disease: several of his back-handed shots – usually his great strength – misfired into the net today.
Federer, who defeated Murray in straight sets in the 2010 final, said, that day, that Andy Murray was too good not to win a Grand Slam – in a couple of days time, fans of tennis have an early opportunity to see if he was right.
If Murray’s backhand starts firing as it can, Sunday’s final is too close to call. If he plays as he did, at times, today, Murray will find he is quickly out of the picture.
Djokovic, too, can be classed as inconsistent. At times, the Serb is unplayable. At times, he looks like he doesn’t want to play.
All of which paints an intriguing picture for this impossible to predict final, between two men who are emerging from the shadows of two of the greatest ever stars in tennis.