JUAN Carlos Ferrero stated before the match that he believes Andy Murray will one day be world No 1, and while that still may be somewhere in the future, the Scot was unquestionably the top man on centre court at Queen's Club yesterday.
It took him just 71 minutes to complete his route to this afternoon's final and manoeuvre himself one step closer to his first tour title on British turf.
Yesterday was the sixth time in 11 tournaments he has made it to the semi-final stage or bet
ter this year and with the easy triumph he has now racked up five final appearances. Victory over James Blake would make it four titles. On that form it is little wonder the players in this draw have failed to come close to measuring up to his prowess.
Murray, who has been utterly efficient in his progress through the early rounds of the AEGON Championships, wasting little over an hour in each of his matches against Andreas Seppi and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and then dropping just five points on his serve as he breezed through his one hour and 11 minute encounter with Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals, was again a man at ease.
The first set yesterday was a demonstration of the kind of ingenuity and breathtaking shot-making the Scot has at his disposal and Ferrero, a former world No 1 and the 2003 French Open winner, was flummoxed.
Murray, 22, is attempting to become the first British winner of this event since Bunny Austin in 1938 and having failed to drop a set thus far, he admitted after the semi-final that he is in quite formidable form, which bodes well with Wimbledon around the corner. One of the traditional warm-up tournaments ahead of the third grand slam of the year, the list of past winners features a number of men who have also secured the singles title on the courts of SW19. Six have completed the double in the same year, including last year's champion Rafael Nadal.
But Murray is refusing to look that far ahead. "It's so easy, based on a few matches, for people to get ahead of themselves. The problem a lot of people have in this country is expecting huge things and thinking it's just going to happen." He said he was not going to get caught up in the hype. "It might sound boring, but I'm not thinking about winning Wimbledon. I'm think about the match tomorrow and then preparing for the Championships the best I can."
Murray was clearly delighted with his form and even a cut on the knuckles from his strings after he smashed the racket off his fist didn't affect his game. "As for the cut, it's literally the smallest cut. You can't even see it," he insisted. "I just punched my strings and because you're clenching the racket, the blood kind of streams down a little bit."
Under scorching skies, and following a flyover from the Red Arrows, Murray started the semi-final in blistering style, taking the first two points on Ferrero's serve. The Spaniard tried to get a footing but the world No 3 was just too good, and with a great cross-court shot he broke serve and established himself as the dominating figure in a match he would control from beginning to end.
Having held his own serve, he broke Ferrero again in the fifth game, which ultimately allowed him to serve for the set in just 28 minutes. Although his serve, which had conceded a paltry three points to Ferrero until that stage, stuttered slightly in the eighth game, double-faulting at the beginning of it, he was still able to wrap up the first set 6-2. "I got off to a very good start in the first set and I have been serving well all week, but it wasn't easy in the second set. There were a lot of good long rallies and I managed to break him once but it was tough." Which was all that was needed on a day when his own serve withstood anything Ferrero threw at it.
With Murray winning the first three points of the second set there was a sense of foreboding among the spectators egging on the Spaniard or those who simply wanted to see the match stretched so they could enjoy more of the exhibition tennis being dished up. But Ferrero is too proud to succumb so easily. In the first grass court semi-final of his career, the 29-year-old fought back from 0-40 to eventually hold serve. The rallies were getting longer now as the play evened up slightly and Murray was tested on his own serve, twice in his next two service games being taken to deuce before he managed to close out. Patience was a virtue at this point and eventually he seized his opportunity, breaking his opponent in the seventh game of the set.
If the first set was awe-inspiringly good at times, it took concentration and durability as well as some genius shots to see out the match and, come the tenth game of the set, he served for a place in the final. One unreturned serve, followed by an ace prepped the crowd and, following a winning rally which included a wonderful pick-up shot at the baseline, it was a matter of seconds before the spectators were on their feet.
They now expect to hail him champion today and will fancy his chances of emulating the feat at Wimbledon. Can he move his grass game up through a few more gears to meet that challenge? "You never know until you need to do it. Normally the difference between being ranked in the top five and top 20 is that you can raise your level. I've been able to do that so far this year, but, on grass, I don't know. But I believe in myself and when the moment comes when I have to raise my game, then I hope I can do that."
The full article contains 1025 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
