TENNIS ATP TOUR – Andy Murray beat Viktor Troicki 6-4 6-3 in 83 minutes to qualify for his 44th final at the Erste Bank ATP 250 Tournament in Vienna where he will face David Ferrer, who battled past German Phillip Kohlschreiber 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-3). Murray, who received a wild-card from the organizers, will be looking to win his second title of the year after Shenzhen. Diego Sampaolo
Troicki saved a break point early in the first set before Murray converted his third break point chance in the fifth game. Murray faced some trouble only in the following game when he was broken back at 3-2 when he made two double faults. In the ninth game Troicki went up 30-0 but he made a double fault and sent a forehand wide allowing Murray to get the break at 4-all. The Scotsman held his serve to 30 before clinching the first set with 6-4
Murray got a break early in the second set. Troicki saved a break point at 2-5 but he dropped his serve to love in the ninth game.
Ferrer had to fend off five break points in the first set after a perfect week in which he did not drop a serve during the whole tournament. Ferrer got the break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead before saving two break points in the sixth game. Ferrer failed to convert two set points at 5-2 but he closed out in the ninth game with 6-3
Kohlschreiber broke serve twice in the fourth and in the eighth games to win the second set with 6-2 and forced the match to the decider. In the third set Ferrer rallied from 2-4 after going down a break. Ferrer broke back to love clawing his way back into the match. Kohlschreiber held serve in the ninth game for 5-4, The third set came down to the tie-break. It went on serve until 2-2 when Ferrer got a mini-break. Ferrer pulled away to 4-2 but Kohlschreiber got the mini-break. However the German made a double fault to go down 3-5 before sending a sending a backhand volley wide. Ferrer won the tie-break 7-3 to reach the 46th final of his career
The Spanish player will be bidding to win his second title of the year in his fourth final of the year.
Murray leads 7-6 in their 13 head-to-head matches but Ferrer won their last clash in three sets in Shanghai.
IF Stockholm Open:
Defending champion Grigor Dimitrov recovered from a 1-4 deficit to overcome Bernard Tomic with 6-3 7-5 to advance to the final at the ATP 250 in Stockholm The young Bulgarian, who beat Ferrer last year, will play the sixth final of his career and the fourth of 2013.
Dimitrov broke serve once and cruised to 3-0 in less than 10 minutes. He did not face any break point in the first set and closed out with 6-3.
Tomic bounced back in the second set pulling away to 4-1 with a break lead but he failed to convert two set points when Dimitrov was serving. Tomic made a double fault when he was serving for the set at 5-3. Dimitrov broke back before getting another break at 5-all. Dimitrov held serve in the 12h game to close out the match.
Dimitrov set up the final against Tomas Berdych who beat Mathias Bachinger 7-6 6-4 in the other semifinal. Bachinger got a break in the seventh game of the first set to take a 4-3 lead. Berdych broke to draw level to 5-5 when Bachinger was serving for the set. Berdych had to fend off a set point before wrapping up the tie-break with 9-7.
Bachinger broke serve in the eighth game but he was broken back to 15 when he was serving for the first set at 5-3. The second set came down to the tie-break. After four mini-breaks Berdych was the first to hold serve at 3-2. The tie-break went on serve until Bachinger earned a set point at 6-5 but Berdych saved it with an ace. Bachinger faced a set point but he won the point to draw level to 7-7. Berdych took the 8-7 edge earning the set point. He hit a forehand winner to close out the tie-break with 9-7.
Berdych got a break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead in the second set. Bachinger converted his third break point chance of the second set to break back for 4-4. Berdych broke again in the following game to edge 5-4 with a forehand winner before closing out on his first match point
Berdych has reached his fifth final of the year and his 24th in his career
Dimitrov leads 3-1 in their four previous matches. The Bulgarian beat Berdych 6-7 6-2 6-2 in their most recent head-to-head match in Rome last May.
“I would like to defend my title every single week. It brings out the best out in you. so it’s a really place to be in”, said Dimitrov
Moscow Kremlin Cup
US Open champion Marin Cilic fought back from a set down to edge last year’s Kremlin Cup finalist Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6 6-3 6-2 to secure his spot on the ATP Finals in London. It was not a easy match for Cilic who went down a set and a break before reaching his fifth final of the year and his 22nd final of his career (he boasts a winning record of 12-9). Kukushkin started well saving all the eight break point chances he faced in the first set.
The Kazakh player broke serve at 4-3 after saving three break points in the first game and two in the fourth game. Cilic did not convert another break point chance in the tenth game and dropped the first set with 4-6.
Kukushkin looked to be cruising to a surprising win when he got another break. Cilic broke straight back to claw his way into the match. Cilic broke in the eighth game en route to winning the second set with 6-3. He reeled off five consecutive games from 3-3 in the second set to build up a 2-0 lead in the third set. Cilic broke again in the seventh game for 5-2. He held serve to 30 to close out the match and qualify for his fifth final of the year.
The Croatian player will face Roberto Bautista Agut who overcame Ernests Gulbis with a double 6-4. Cilic is the third Croatian player to qualify for the end-of-year ATP Finals or Masters Cup after Goran Ivanisevic (five times) and Ivan Ljubicic (2006)
Bautista Agut will play his third final of the year on three different surfaces after winning in Stuttgart on clay and s’Hertogenbosch on grass. Gulbis saved two break points at 2-2 before dropping serve in the seventh game. Bautista Agut did not face any troubles and closed out the first set with 6-4.
At 2-2 Gulbis saved two break points in the second set which went on serve until 3-3. Bautista Agut broke again in the seventh game as in the first set. The Spanish player faced the first break point of the match at 4-3 in the second set when he made a double fault but he saved it when Gulbis made a fault on his second serve.
In the Combined WTA Tournament at the Kremlin Cup Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova cruised past Czech qualifier and first-time WTA semifinalist Katerina Siniakov with a double 6-2. Pavlyuchenkova will play her third WTA Premier final after Brisbane 2013 and Paris Indoor 2014. Pavlyuchenkova will try to become the fourth Russian player to win in the home tournament after Anastasya Myskina (twice Kremlin Cup champion in 2003 and 2004), Anna Chaktvetadze (2006) and Elena Dementieva (2007).
Pavlyuchenkova will face Irina Camelia Begu from Romania who battled past Lucie Safarova in three sets with 7-6 1-6 6-3. Begu converted only one of her 14 break point chances in the 8th game of the match before serving out for the match. Begu crowned an impressive week in which she knocked out two top-20 players Ekaterina Makarova and Lucie Safarova. She will play her first WTA Premier Final.
