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2010 AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Brad Gilbert – Andy Murray’s genius touch turned the game around
By Sportsmail Reporter
The big elusive thing in Andy Murray’s semi-final was how Marin Cilic’s condition would hold up after his three five-setters got this far and after an hour we seemed to have the answer: no problem at all.
He came out smoking the ball and I started to think he might somehow get through it. Because Andy was nervous, you never know how far someone like Marin is capable, especially since he’s only 21 and super fit.
But then Murray’s devastating forehand hit the breaking point, and suddenly Cilic went from 100 percent to 75 percent, and Andy went the other way. It’s tempting to say that we haven’t seen a single point change in a match like this in a long time, but in fact something similar happened just 24 hours earlier.
1: Murray turned the game around with a remarkable shot. A set down, the scores locked at 2-2 in the second, and Cilic serves, Murray has a breaking point. The Croat’s backhand snaps the top of the net and it looks like he will fall down for a lucky winner. But Murray scrambles forward (above) and keeps the point alive…
Nikolay Davydenko had a simple backhand that would have given him a set and 4-1 against Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, but he rushed and somehow managed to miss it. That was the game here and we saw Fed win the next 13 games and have a shot at the final today. These sudden changes are the beauty of sports.
If he wins, he’ll be up against a super confident Murray, who’ll be glad he finished the match so much stronger than he started it. The incredible forehand he wrapped around the post in the last game will have given him immense pleasure as if he manages to chase the ball down he will show how all the hard work he puts in every day pays off throws off.
2: The ball lands friendly to Cilic on his backhand and the 6-foot Croat shoots it across the field, looking for a winner to end the game. But Murray is alert and extends an arm, just to get his racket to the ball, and sends a backhand volley over the net. However, the ball is perfectly in front of Cilic…
He is in such good shape and has made it through his matches in such a short time that he has enough fuel to play for five hours in the final – it will be like having two extra cans of petrol in the back of the car.
Of course, Murray is much more than fitness, and if you wanted to see a measure of his talent yesterday, it was in the way he stood three to five feet inside the baseline to take on Cilic’s second serve.
3: But instead of sending home a winner, the Croat chooses to play a near-perfect lob that forces Murray to scramble backwards. Surely there is no way he can win the point from here…
The Croat gives it a real vicious kick and only the most talented can take it as early and on the rise as Murray did. I loved how he did that. But it all came from getting that break for 3-2 in the second. Until then Andy’s movement hadn’t been the same as against Rafael Nadal and you could see it relaxing him completely.
Before that, his other problem was that Cilic bounced back incredibly well, even shooting Andy’s first serve deep into the back of the field, allowing him to control many of the rallies from the baseline.
4: Think again. Although Cilic’s lob lands just inches inside the baseline, Murray somehow reaches it, turning and firing an unstoppable, flipped forehand past the Croat to break the serve with the 14th shot of a sensational rally. Cue screams with joy from Murray, his entourage and the Melbourne fans. Cilic, on the other hand, looks stunned and defeated
He was the real aggressor and had definitely come up with a strategy that he had to be because he didn’t want to get into a drawn-out match that would last several hours. You could see he was making one last try in the middle of the third set, but the match was probably already over because Andy’s level had risen so much.
Cilic threw every punch he could. Andy took them and was still standing at the end.