Great Britain’s Andy Murray (4) has become the third top four seeded player in the Australian Open 2012 Men’s Singles to make it through to the Semi-Final stage after the 24 year old Scot eased to victory over Japan’s Kei Nishikori (24).
Murray won through in a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-1.
Murray hit more winners and fewer errors than his 22 year old opponent, but, as so often for the Scot, he failed to hit the service box as often as he should have but, when he did get a first serve in, was quite deadly, to win 78% of points from the first service.
But Murray’s return of serve was what put him head and shoulders above Nishikori in this match, as he hit some superb returns, particularly on the forehand side – an area where his game is gradually improving – to win over 50% of points on receiving serve. When the breaks came, Murray was lethal, as he took nearly half of them. Nishikori, on the other hand, could complete only 20% (2 out of 10) of his break point chances, as Murray did what those in the top 5 in the World do: he got better on the key points.
Murray will face the winner of the remaining Men’s Singles Quarter-Final, Novak Djokovic (1) or David Ferrer (5). He will need to be every bit as good as he was here, and, probably, even, a little better against those two greats, if he is to reach another Australian Open Final.