Murray marches on to face Djokovic in Australian Open final
MELBOURNE, Australia - When the underdog opens a semi-final match with a break to love against the world No. 2, the energy in Rod Laver Arena suddenly shifts. Friday night the crowd was about evenly split between those supporting Milos Raonic, the 25-year-old Canadian playing in his second career major semi-finals, and supporters of 18-time major semi-finalist Andy Murray.
Those with maple leafs painted across their faces and Canadian flags draped over their shoulders were downright giddy to see Raonic open the match by breaking Murray's serve.
Those sporting kilts and Scottish flags sat stunned. Every "Let's go Andy, let's go" was quickly answered with the same calls for Raonic, the youngest of the four semi-finalists the youngest at the Australian Open since Djokovic reached the semis at age 24.
On court the pair battled on serve through the remainder of a set dominated by serve-and-volley tennis. There were moments of brilliance, especially a shot that Murray just snuck along the line, but at the end Raonic took the set, 6-4. The difference that set was Raonic's serve, as he teed up four aces and won 83-percent of his first-serve points. He hit 14 winners, while Murray had only four.
The second stayed on serve through 11 games. After two missed opportunities, Murray finally earned his break. He timed it perfect at 5-6, giving him the set 7-5 and turning the match into a best-of-three. Murray had five unforced errors in the set, a quarter of Raonic's 20.
The third was more serve-and-volley, staying on serve all the way to a tiebreak. There, Raonic built a 5-2 lead, then sealed it four points later with his seventh ace of the set. He'd serve 23 overall in the match, more than double Murray's total. He won the first-serve point on 20 of 22 opportunities in that third set.
It was an impressive performance against a man who has played four finals at this Grand Slam and won the title at two others. Raonic came into the match undefeated and for those first three sets looked like he might keep his streak alive.
His fans were absolutely loving it. Had he reached the final, Raonic would have been the first Canadian man to reach a final at any Grand Slam in the Open era.
By the fourth, though, the fairytale was over. Raonic needed a medical timeout between sets. When they returned, the veteran earned the break to go up 4-3, then warded off a break point in a 12-point game to lead 5-3. As he saved that break point, he let out the biggest "Come on" of the night. He pumped his arm at least three times. He soon served out the set to force a fifth. There, he was lights out.
Murray moves on with the 4-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 win, arguably the toughest match played this fortnight. There he'll meet the seemingly-unstoppable No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
His brother, Jamie, will play for the men's doubles title with partner Bruno Soares on Saturday. With Andy's win, the Murrays became the first pair of brothers to reach the finals of separate events at the same Grand Slam.
Andy knows he has an incredible task ahead of him in order to win his first Australian Open title. After his match, he told press he's ready for the challenge.
"I have a very good shot on Sunday if I play my best tennis," he said. "I need to do it for long enough to have a chance. I'm aware of that. I don't think many people are expecting me to win on Sunday. I have to just believe in myself, have a solid game plan, and hopefully execute it and play well...
"Doesn't matter what's happened in the past really. It's about what happens on Sunday. People like to read into what's happened in the past, but Stan beat Rafa in the final here. I don't know, I don't think he'd ever won against him in like 13 attempts. When he beat Novak here, the same thing, as well. There's no reason it's not possible for me to win."
