- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Andy Murray is into his fourth Australian Open final with a 6-7 6-0 6-3 7-5 victory over Tomas Berdych on Rod Laver Arena last night.
In his fifth semi final at the Australian Open, in the last six years, Murray was too strong for his opponent, after conceding the first set of the match.
After losing that set in a tiebreaker, Murray would win 19 of the next 27 games, and will now face either Novak Djokovic or Stan Wawrinka in the final on Sunday.
Things didn’t start well for the British number one, as he was outplayed by Berdych, for a majority of the set.
In the 8th game of the set, Murray was broken, as Berdych raced to a 5-3 lead.
Murray would fight back in the next game, and put pressure on Berdych.
He would break back and level at 5-5.
The set would then head to a tiebreaker and Murray would have the first chance to win the set at 6-5 in the tiebreaker.
Berdych would win the next point to save the set. He would win the next two points and take the first set 8-6 in the tiebreaker.
In a tight and close contest, the first set went for 73 minutes.
The match then turned in the second and third set.
At the change of ends, after the first set, Berdych muttered words to Murray.
Murray immediately took offence to that, complained to the chair umpire, and asked Tomas for an explanation.
Berdych, according to him, said “Well done Tomas.’
Whether that was said or not, it did one thing.
It fired Murray up.
He unleashed in the second and third sets, and won 12 out of the next 15 games in the match.
Murray would bagel Berdych in the second set, and then break in the 6th game of the third set, to take control of the match.
The world number seven served poorly in those two sets and fell away mentally as Murray lifted his level again.
The final set was close between the two but when the pressure came to Berdych, he wilted, and Murray pounced.
In the 11th game of the set, Murray would break, and take the set and the match.
After the match, Murray was happy with the win.
“Very happy with the way that I played the match. To be in the final four times here, I mean, because I’m surrounded by guys like Roger, Novak and Rafa, doesn’t look like much, but that doesn’t happen that often. So I’m very proud of that.”
Murray will now focus on the final, and will try to reverse the ledger of three Australian Open final losses.
“Losing in the finals is disappointing. But making four finals is a very, very difficult thing to do. It’s not easy to do. I’m proud of my record here. I’ll try my best on Sunday.
“I’ll go in with best tactics possible, prepare well, couple days’ rest, recover as best as I can. And, yeah, all I can do is give my best. If it’s enough, great. If not, I literally couldn’t have done anything more to put myself in a better position come Sunday.”
Murray will play either Novak Djokovic or Stan Wawrinka in the final on Sunday.
The world number seven The first finalist for the men’s singles at the 2015 Australian Open will be decided tonight when Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych face each other on Rod Laver Arena.
Join The Roar for live scores of the match from 7:30pm AEDT.
After both Murray and Berdych won their quarter finals in straight sets, they will now face each other for a chance to play in the final of the Australian Open.
In both quarter finals, Murray and Berdych were impressive, as they comfortably defeated their opponents. Murray broke Australia’s hearts as he defeated Nick Kyrgios 6-3 7-6 6-3 in the second quarter final of the men’s tournament.
Berdych, on the other hand, stunned Rafael Nadal, as he won 12 of the first 14 games of their quarter final clash. He would eventually win 6-2 6-0 7-6 to book his second straight semi-final appearance at the Australian Open.
At the semi-final level, of Grand Slams, Berdych has been poor. He has won just once in his four appearances at this level of the tournament.
That Grand Slam, which he won his first semi-final at, was arguably one of his greatest tournaments of tennis. At Wimbledon, in the quarter finals, he defeated Roger Federer in four sets.
He then defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets before losing to Rafael Nadal in the final. He will be looking to repeat his performance of Wimbledon tonight against Murray.
As for Murray, he has plenty of experience at the semi-final level. Tonight is his 15th Grand Slam semi-final and his record is seven wins and seven losses.
At the Australian Open, he is three wins and one loss. His only loss came against Novak Djokovic in 2012.
Tonight he is looking for his fourth Australian Open final appearance. This experience should help Murray in the early stages of the match, as both battle nerves in the big occasion.
What won’t help him is his record against Berdych. Head to head, between the two, the Czech player leads 6-4.
In the last two matches, in 2013, Berdych won them both in straight sets.
On hard courts though, Murray leads the head to head, with four wins to three against the world number seven The other three matches – all won by Berdych – were won on clay.
At the US Open, in their only hard court Grand Slam match-up, Murray won a tight four set contest between the two.
If Berdych is to win tonight, he needs to focus on two areas, to win the match.
The first is his serve. He is currently eighth in aces and wins 83 per cent of points when he lands his first serve.
10 per cent of his points have been won on his forehand so far in this tournament. If both areas are in form tonight, then he is a chance to beat Murray.
For Murray it is all about keeping his unforced errors low, and forcing Berdych into errors.
The defence of Murray will also be a major focus for the Brit number one It is one of the best in the game and can defeat Berdych tonight.
If Berdych is ever going to win a grand slam though, here is his chance to do it.
His form has been impressive in the tournament. It is almost good enough to be a Grand Slam champion. The question here is whether he can take his chance, hold his nerves, and win the title.
When the big moments arrive, he struggled to capitalise on them, and win the match. That will be the question tonight and on Sunday if he makes the final.
Can he take those moments in the Australian Open this year?
I predict he will take them tonight. Attack will beat defence in five sets and Berdych will be in the final.
Prediction – Berdych 3-2.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.