Andy Murray staged an epic recovery against an injury-plagued Milos Raonic to reached his fifth Australian Open final after battling to a 4-6,7-5,6-7(4),6-4,6-2, win.
The world No.2 was aware of how much of a stern test he faced. Prior to their semifinal clash Murray has played Raonic six times, winning three of them. The Canadian was also on a 9-match winning streak after recently winning the Brisbane International.
It was the perfect start by the in-form Canadian as he produced a sequence of stunning winners to break Murray in the first game of the match. The break was almost squandered in the following game as Raonic faltered to hand his opponent three break back points. Despite having the golden chance, Murray was unable to convert as the Canadian battled to extend his early lead. The slow start to the set from Murray was fatal to his first set hopes, despite some outstanding shots from the world No.2.
Despite that kind of genius shot, Andy Murray isn’t able to break Raonic for the moment #hotshot #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/EnagkjxOYw
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) January 29, 2016
In the seventh game Raonic had a chance for a double break when Murray hit a backhand into the net but was unable to take advantage after the world No.2 hit a deep forehand winner. Despite not getting the double break, the world No.14 had already inflicted his damage onto Murray. Serving for the set, an unreturned serve down the line was called out, prompting Raonic to challenge. His challenge was successful after Hawk-Eye said it was in, rewarding the Canadian the set after 37 minutes of play. During the opening set Raonic won 83% of his first serves and saved 3/3 break points.
After his disappointing start to the match, Murray increased his service consistency as he matched Raonic game by game during the early part of the second set. The world No.2 had an early opportunity to break for a 2-0 lead before it was dismissed by a stunning forehand from Raonic. The opportunities continued for Murray but he was still unable to find the final shot to break the mighty Raonic serve. The biggest problem for the Brit was Raonic’s repetitive approaches to the net which forced him to produced a variety of errors. As the second set progressed, both men appeared to be heading toward a tiebreak until a sudden lull in Raonic’s service game. As the Canadian serve at 5-6, 30-30, a superb rally was concluded with a forehand passing shot from Murray to give him set point. The rapid turn of events continued when the Canadian produced an unforced error at the net, handing Murray his first break of the match and more importantly the second set.
Bringing himself back into the match, Murray increase his dominance with his serve to match his opponent during what was a serving masterclass. The first five games of the third set were held to love (two for Raonic and three for Murray) before Murray finally won a point against the Raonic serve. The closeness between the two men continued until the business end of the set.
Serving at 4-4, The two-time Grand Slam champion trailed 0-30 before clawing his way back to move ahead to 5-4. The pressure for the world No.14 continued when a forehand unforced error from Murray in his following service game handed him a break point. The British No.1 still refused to be broken as he fended off the break point before sealing his game with a deep serve down the line, leading to a tiebreaker.
After two early exchanges of breaks, Raonic remained the dominant force once again after a tentative serve was punished with a blistering winner from the Canadian. That point was pivotal to the outcome of the tiebreaker as the Canadian continued his outstanding service. No matter what Murray threw at the Canadian, he couldn’t find a way to break him. Raonic sealed set with his 13th ace to move to just one set away from his maiden Grand Slam final.
Amazing Inside-Out-Forehand of #Raonic, 2:1 sets vs. #Murray #AusOpen #RaonicVsMurray (tb) pic.twitter.com/k0NDqyfsjr
— tennis MAGAZIN (@tennismagazin) January 29, 2016
