Cincinnati: Murray Sets Djokovic Final
Murray to meet Nole in the Cincinnati final
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are to reiterate this year’s Australian Open final after both of them have made easy progresses in Cincinnati. The Scott beat seventh seed Mardy Fish 6-3, 7-6, while Nole has reached the last term after Tomas Berdych abandoned the match at 5-7 down due to a shoulder injury.
Fourth seed Murray, who has only won a title this year at the Queens event, converted four of 15 break points against the American who also managed to win three games on Murray’s service out of nine tries. Andy had a much solid game, winning 62 percent of service points and 45 on return, compared to his opponent whose showing included a 55 service percentage and a 38 return one.
The two also exchanged 12 aces, seven of which hit by Fish who provided a better first serve percentage, but who was unable to win the breaker in the second term, which he conceded at eight. Next up for Murray is world number one and nine title winner Djokovic who has made a free progress into the final after Berdych’s injury.
Berdych managed to pick 32 winners against the Serb before announcing his abandon. Said Djokovic of tomorrow’s clash against Murray: “This is a surface that he plays well on, I think. We played here finals, two tough sets, and he has won that. So he knows what it takes to win a big match, a big tournament. So there is no favourite tomorrow.”
En route to the final, Djokovic has defeated Gael Monfils 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter finals, Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-3 in the third term and Ryan Harrison 6-2, 6-3 in his debut. On the other side, Murray had previously ousted Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-3, Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 7-5 and David Nalbandian 6-4, 6-1 in the second round.
Sunday’s final will be the tenth meeting between Nole, who has gone 57-1 this season, and Murray, third of the season. The two have previously met at the Australian Open and Rome Masters, tournaments which the Serb won. Djokovic leads the head to head series 6-3 with the last two wins coming from the two events.
Previous to the Rome Masters and the Aussie Grand Slam Murray had won all the three games between the two, his last success dating from the 2009 Miami Masters. Nole has won nine titles this year in Melbourne, Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Belgrade, Madrid, Rome, Wimbledon and Montreal.
Cincinnati Prize Money and points:
Winner – $496,000 and 1000 points ATP
Runner-up – $243,200 and 600 points ATP
Semi finalist – $122,400 and 360 points ATP
Quarter finalist – $62,240 and 180 points ATP
R16 – $32,320 and 90 points ATP
R32 – $17,040 and 45 points ATP
R56 – $9,200 and 10 points ATP
