On Sunday, in the Sony Open final, Andy Murray will take on David Ferrer. Murray beat Richard Gasquet 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to his third final in Miami.
Gasquet befuddled the 2009 champion early on, getting the break with a beautiful back down the line winner. The Frenchman went on to consolidate and move ahead 3-0.
Subsequent to holding serve for the first time, Murray became extremely aggressive which allowed him to erase the break deficit.
Later on, with a forehand winner, Murray manufactured triple break point. When Gasquet’s backhand slice found the tramlines, Murray grabbed his second break of the first set.
However, serving for the set at 5-4, Murray double faulted on break point to open the door for his opponent. Gasquet became more offensive which helped him as the set had to be settled in a tiebreaker.
With Murray netting a backhand, Gasquet had a mini-break advantage which turned out to be the difference in the set.
Quickly, Murray shook off the disappointment of the prior set and with a forehand down the line winner had double point. With a fortuitous pass landing for a winner, the Scot converted for 3-1. Murray streaked five games in a row to capture the second set.
Subsequent to getting the break in the initial game of the third set, Murray double faulted to gift Gasquet the next game. Yet, subsequent to having double game point, Gasquet double faulted and was at deuce.
With a return winner, Murray obtained break point and capitalized with a forehand volley winner. Henceforth, Murray took command of the final set breaking a second time for 5-2, then easily bedding the match.
Following the match, Gasquet explained that he was compromised by an ankle injury which was present since Indian Wells “I had an ankle problem already. . .I tried my best. . . When you have to play a guy like Andy, it’s tough. I don’t think I lost because of that. I lost because he’s very good”.
Despite the defeat, Gasquet walks away with fond memories “it was a very nice week for me, semis in Miami. I thought I could win today. I’m really happy with the way I played this week. I’m trying to improve my game, I work a lot. The confidence is [growing] with every week. I am very motivated for the rest of the season”.
Murray stated in reference to blowing the first set “a tough one to lose because I served for [it] and hit over twenty winners. I realized I had to cut out the unforced errors, did a good job of that. Halfway through the second set, I started to find the way to play and the right shots to go for”.
Murray was well aware of his opponent’s health issue “obviously he struggled in the third set with his movement. But, I just had to take care of my side of the net”.
At this event, the players in their thirties have been quite successful including Ferrer who is in the final. Murray was asked whether he pictures himself playing in his third decade “who knows? . . .if the body permits, I would hope so. . .you touch wood you don’t have any surgeries, but that can happen. [It] depends how you recover from them as you get older.”
On Sunday, Murray knows he will have to be ready to go toe to toe with Ferrer. He explained “David, after this week, will be in the top four again. He deserves to be because of his consistency. He’ll be very tough on Sunday”.
Moreover, according to Murray “Ferrer has a great attitude on the court. He fights for every single point. You’re going to have to do more running than against some players”.
These two have collided eleven times with Murray ahead 6-5. The problem for Ferrer is that only one of his wins has been on hardcourt. All the others have been on the red dirt. Thus, Murray goes in as the favorite on Sunday.
