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Murray sets up Ferrer match up in Vienna

Jake Davies
Tennis

 

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By Jake Davies

  • Andy Murray [1] defeats John Isner 6-1 6-3
  • Murray vs David Ferrer [5] in Vienna semi-final
VIENNA, AUSTRIA  – Andy Murray enjoyed a far more comfortable run-out over John Isner, as he reached the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open.

 

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Andy Murray [1] defeats John Isner 6-1 6-3

Top seed Murray dropped just four games as he ousted Isner to reach the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. An unforgiving Murray completely dominated his taller opponent from the beginning of the match and after getting an early break lead in the first set, he did not look back from that moment onwards.

Murray returned effectively throughout this contest. It was always going to be a tall order for Isner to maintain strong, effective and meaningful serves throughout the entirety of this match. Against most opponents it is fine to deliver flamethrower serves after flamethrower serves, but Murray’s superior return game forces Isner to play even closer to the lines on his own service games.

It was also incredibly important for the Brit to improve his service numbers from the previous match against Frenchman Gilles Simon. He was far from his best in that particular match and found himself losing a lot of the baseline rallies to the Frenchman. Luckily, Isner did not pose a baseline threat to the Briton as he manipulated most of the rallies against the American.

Murray’s impressive run of results and form continues to move in the right direction as he tries to win three consecutive singles titles following his wins in Beijing and Shanghai. The World No.2 can pass Novak Djokovic during next week’s Paris Masters event, but recognises that he needs to win the title in Vienna in order to give himself that opportunity.

 

Andy Murray [1] vs David Ferrer [5] H2H: Murray leads 14-6

Murray will meet David Ferrer in the Vienna semi-finals. It is a rematch of the epic final that took place in the Austrian capital in 2014, where Murray came out on top in a close three-set match. He holds the mental edge in this particular match up. The British No.1 has commanded the head-to-head in recent years by winning all seven of their last seven matches with Ferrer’s last win coming in Shanghai in 2014. The two also battled in Beijing several weeks ago where Murray continued his supremacy in a straightforward straight sets win.

If he puts away another Top 20 player this week, then you have to fancy the Brit’s chances of lifting the trophy on Sunday as he will be heavy favourite to beat either Jo Wilfried Tsonga or Ivo Karlovic in that final.

I think Murray will prevail with the win. He has come through some serious scares in the early stages of the competition and should improve match by match like all the top players tend to do over the course of an ATP event.

Prediction: Murray in two sets

 

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