Andy Murray, twice winner in Cincinnati in 2008 and 2011, beat Milos Raonic 6-3 6-3 in the semifinal of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati in a re-match of this year’s Wimbledon final to reach his second consecutive final in one week just six days after his second Olympic triumph against Juan Martin Del Potro in Rio de Janeiro. The match was delayed by rain. The twice Olympic champion has extended his winning streak to 22 consecutive matches.
Rain continued to affect the Cincinnati tournament in today’s semifinal which was interrupted after four points. The match was interrupted for 12 minutes as Murray was holding two break points at 15-40. As the match resumed, Murray broke immediately with a cross-court forehand. Both players delighted the crowd with an incredible point. Murray saved a pair of break points. He won 67 percent of second serve points in the first set. Murray put pressure on Raonic’s serve breaking for the second time in the last game of the first set in the ninth game to clinch the first set 6-3.
Raonic made another double fault at 3-4 allowing Murray to take a 15-40 lead on his rival’s serve. The Canadian hit another forehand to hand Murray the crucial break for 5-3. As Murray was serving for the match, he hit double fault and missed a forehand at 40-15. Raonic earned a break point as Murray made another error but the Canadian failed to convert it as he hit a forehand into the net. Rain started to fall falla gain when the two players were at deuce. As the match resumed, Murray hit a forehand winner to earn a third match point. The Dunblane star closed out the match with a short volley winner to wrap up the match 6-3 6-3.
“I think it helps in terms of the choices that you make on the court. Like I didn’t get broken in the last couples of matches and, when I was in difficult situations I made good choises. That’s helped keep the matches shorter. If you are a bit lower on confidence, regardless of how fresh you are, if you haven’t played loads of matches you make sometimes bad decisions in those moments. Because I have won a lot the last few months, that’s something that has been good, especially this week for sure. I have needed it to be because I haven’t been feeling perfect. I have managed to get through the matches pretty good”, said Murray
Murray will be looking to win his 19th Masters 1000 title against Marin Cilic, who came back from a set down to edge past Grigor Dimitrov 4-6 6-3 7-5. Cilic fought back from 2-4 down in the final set by winning four points in a row from 0-30 in the 11th game to break Dimitrov at 5-5 and served out for the match after 2 hours and 24 minutes.
“It was a Kings Island of a match. It was definitely a tough match in gruelling, heavy conditions. We obviously waited a long time, starting at 11.28 pm. Mentally it was not easy. I was not playing too well today. I didn’t find the rhytm on my serve and I was just trying to stay in there in the third set and manage physically. at 2-4 I was trying to give myself some positive thoughts to bounce back. I felt that I was close to playing better. I was just just missing by small margins, so I focused on putting the ball in play a bit more and waiting for the right opportunity. I returned well on those occasions and it paid off”, said Cilic.
