Andy Murray, first man to reach the 2010 Shanghai finals
Earlier this month, it seemed as if Scottish professional tennis player Andy Murray was burnt out for the year. Critics also expressed concerns that his career might be gradually winding down, leaving him as one of the has-beens of the court.
However, at this week’s 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters, the World Number 4 has shattered all such doubts, and confirmed that he will be around for quite some years to come.
In the event’s semi-final today, fourth seed Andy Murray glided through his match with Juan Monaco, destroying his opponent in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to serve his way into the final, against either World Number 2 Novak “Nole” Djokovic or World Number 3 Roger
“the Maestro” Federer.
Although, as World Number 4 Murray might be at a slight disadvantage against the other players, he seems enthusiastic about the upcoming tournament, especially since his chances of winning the Masters 1000 event have increased significantly since Jurgen
Melzer ousted World Number 1 Rafael “Rafa” Nadal.
The Scottish player, when asked about who he would prefer to play, told reporters, “Novak has been playing great and that (semi-final) is going to be a really tough match. But I enjoy playing Roger; it's a great experience every time against him. It's always
great fun, so I wouldn't mind playing Roger”.
Andy Murray started the match against Juan Monaco strongly, edging his way into an upper hand before he lost hold of the match mid-way through the first set for some time. However, the second half of the semi final was considerably different, with Murray
dominating the last set into a win.
Britain’s Number 1 player seemed to be in control of the match during the beginning of the first set, and he broke Monaco to take a lead. However, after seeming likely to take the set for himself, he gave up his serve to the Argentine with a double fault.
Monaco took the opportunity to turn the score up by 4 games, while Murray struggled slightly and kept the score at 5-4 for himself.
The set’s deciding moment came when Monaco served to level scores, and Murray looked ready to surrender the point. However, he recovered with a powerful batch of defensive lobs, which frustrated Monaco into attempting a risky shot. This shot went wide, leveling
the game’s score to 15 all. The momentary distraction due to a mistake was all Murray needed to eclipse Monaco’s performance, and the Argentine gave up the set with two more unforced errors.
During the second set, Murray stepped up his game even more, taking the first two service games with almost no trouble, and little resistance from Monaco. He also converted a break at his first try, while Monaco made more and more unforced errors.
Midway through the set, at 3-0 to Murray, Monaco called upon the trainer for a brief interval, which seemed to calm him down. He took the next game with a solid performance. However, this was nowhere near enough to stop Murray, who fired another service
game to take the score to 4-1. Another break gave Murray the opportunity to snag himself a place in the final, and he won the final game to love and finished the match with a smoothly executed ace.
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