Olympic champion Andy Murray will face Marin Cilic in the Western & Southern Open final after winning his 50th match of the year.
The Scot was pitted against Milos Raonic, the Canadian he beat to claim his second Wimbledon title in July, in the semi-finals and despite enduring a barrage of aces, he progressed to Sunday’s final on the back of a 6-3, 6-3 victory, his 22nd win on the spin.
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Murray, who previously won this tournament in 2008 and 2011, beating Novak Djokovic on both occasions, told atpworldtour.com “I didn’t get broken in the last couple of matches and when I was in difficult situations I made good choices. That’s helped keep the matches shorter.”
His arduous run to gold in Rio has been a boon rather than a curse, with fatigue giving way to momentum in Cincinnati.
“If you’re a bit lower on confidence, regardless of how fresh you are, if you haven’t played loads of matches you make bad decisions in those moments,” Murray said. “Because I’ve won a lot the last few months, that’s something that has been good, especially this week for sure.
“I’ve needed it to be because I haven’t been feeling perfect. I’ve managed to get through the matches pretty well.”
The late-night encounter between 12th seed Cilic and Grigor Dimitrov was delayed by rain, and when the players finally reached Centre Court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center it was the Bulgarian world No 34 who drew first blood.
Cilic forced a decider by winning the second set and unseeded Dimitrov, who last month reached the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup before disposing of Stan Wawrinka and Steve Johnson in Cincinnati, began to unravel. Croatian Cilic closed out a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win to reach his first Masters final.
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