Andy Murray to face on-form Tomas Berdych in Australian Open semi-final
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Version 0 of 1. When Andy Murray stands in the middle of a storm it is normally one of his own making but this time, he is an island of calm as peers and rivals, notably absent friends Roger Federer, then Rafael Nadal, succumb to the charge of the next generation at the Australian Open. In three finals since 2010, Murray has let himself down but only against two of the best players of his era, Federer and Novak Djokovic, twice. Could this be the year, after 10 visits to Melbourne, when he profits from the suffering of others? There is every reason to believe so. Murray does, unequivocally. So does his coach of seven months, Amélie Mauresmo. He is relaxed, fit and playing the most consistent tennis at this level since he won Wimbledon in 2013. In this tournament, Murray has accounted for three fringe contenders in Yuki Bhambri, Marinko Matosevic and João Sousa, as well as two prodigies in the 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov and, on Tuesday night in the simultaneously freezing and fevered atmosphere of the Rod Laver Arena, the best teenager in the world, Nick Kyrgios, all for the loss of a single set. Now it gets properly serious. Tomas Berdych has been in splendid form on his way to their semi-final on Thursday, beating Alejandro Falla, Jürgen Melzer, Viktor Troicki, Bernard Tomic – Kyrgios’s slightly less potent compatriot – and in his quarter-final, Nadal, without dropping a set. There would seem to be nothing between them, either in quality of opposition or in their own tennis. “Tomas has played very well so far,” Murray observed after his own 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win, with quite a few tough moments in windy, cold conditions in front of a hostile crowd against an opponent who played without fear. “Rafa’s form had been a bit up and down. He was coming in having not really played much tennis at all for quite a long time. And when he was playing towards the end of last year he certainly wasn’t fit, so I wouldn’t imagine he would have been practising loads either. I wasn’t too surprised. “I mean, Rafa nearly got himself back into the match in the third set, but he was clearly not playing so well at the beginning.” As for Berdych, who has won six of their 10 matches, with one win for each of them in slams, Murray said: “He’s a big guy. He strikes the ball very well. He’s fairly calm on the court. I think he manages emotions fairly well. And he’s obviously played extremely well this tournament. Just by looking at the results, he’s had some good wins and played well in Doha. He’ll be coming into the match with confidence. “I’m happy. It’s nice to be in the latter stages of a slam again. We want to do as best as possible but all you can do is prepare as best you can, which I certainly did over the last few weeks and months, and have given myself an opportunity. Maybe I won’t play well in a couple of days; maybe I play great. I don’t know but I’ve given myself a good opportunity again, and hopefully I can use it to my advantage.” Murray refused to join the minor rumblings over Kyrgios’s extrovert behaviour on court, which on Tuesday strayed into more swearing and a racket smash towards the end of the tie-break that escaped censure. “I actually think he’s quite respectful on the court in many ways,” Murray said. “He does applaud good shots. He does say, ‘Good shot, good serve’. He gets frustrated with himself and sometimes says things he shouldn’t but everyone has done that in some way when they’re 19. It just happens that when he’s doing it he’s playing in front of a large audience and it gets picked up on. “I’ve spent a little bit of time with him and I think he’s a good person. I don’t think he’s a bad guy. He’s nice. He’s always been polite and respectful. Maybe he does the odd thing on the court that might annoy some people but I don’t think he does anything with bad intent. He’s only going to continue to mature and improve in that respect as he gets older. He just needs to be allowed to grow up. Everyone makes mistakes when they’re that age.” Nadal cut a forlorn figure in defeat. The Spaniard, who had played only five serious matches in seven months coming into the tournament, denied he was suffering from illness or injury, although he moved as if playing by memory, and was near collapse with dizziness in the second round last week when he was pushed through five tough sets by the American qualifier Tim Smyczek. “I am feeling okay,” he said, “Just was not my day. I didn’t play with the right intensity, with the right rhythm, and the opponent played better than me.” Whatever the reason, his departure, after that of Federer the day before on Friday, has confirmed what everyone in tennis has known for some time: nobody is immune from defeat, no matter the opponent or the stage of the tournament. |