AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2010: Brad Gilbert – Touch of genius by Andy Murray turned the match
By Sportsmail Reporter
The big intangible coming into Andy Murray’s semi-final was how Marin Cilic’s fitness would hold up after his three five- setters getting this far and, after an hour, we seemed to have the answer: no problem at all.
He came out smoking the ball, and I was beginning to think that he was somehow going to be able to get through it. Because Andy was nervous, you never know how much someone like Marin is capable of, especially as he is only 21 and super- fit.
But then came Murray’s devastating forehand on break point, and suddenly Cilic went from 100 per cent to 75 per cent, and Andy went the other way. It is tempting to say that we have not seen one point change a match like this in a long time but, in fact, a very similar thing happened just 24 hours previously.
1: Murray turned the match with a remarkable shot. One set down, the scores locked at 2-2 in the second, and Cilic serving, Murray has a break point. The Croat¿s backhand clips the top of the net and looks set to drop down for a fortunate winner. But Murray scrambles forward (above) and keeps the point alive…
Nikolay Davydenko had a simple backhand that would have put him a set and 4-1 up against Roger Federer in the quarter-final but rushed and somehow managed to miss it. That was the match right here and we saw Fed go on to win the next 13 games and get himself through to having a shot at the final today. These sudden changes are the beauty of sport.
If he wins, he will face a super-confident Murray, who will be delighted that he finished the match so much stronger than he started it. The incredible forehand he curled around the net post in the final game will have given him massive pleasure, because managing to chase that ball down will show him how all the hard work he puts in, day to day, is paying off.
2: The ball lands kindly for Cilic on his backhand side and the 6ft 6in Croat fires it across court, looking for a winner to bring the game to deuce. But Murray is alert and stretches out an arm, just about getting his racket to the ball, and sends a backhand volley trickling over the net. However, the ball sits up perfectly for Cilic…
He is in such good shape and has come through his matches in such a short time that he will have enough fuel to go five hours in the final – it will be like he has two extra cans of petrol in the back of the car.
Of course there is much more to Murray 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 rather than powering home a winner, the Croat chooses to play a near-perfect lob which forces Murray to scramble backwards. Surely there¿s no way he can win the point from here…
The Croat gives it a real nasty kick and only the most talented can take it as early and on the rise as Murray did. I thought that was beautiful the way he did that. But everything stemmed from getting that break for 3-2 in the second. Up until then, Andy’s movement had not been the same as it was against Rafael Nadal and you could see how it totally relaxed him.
Prior to that, his other problem was that Cilic was returning incredibly well, even firing Andy’s first serves deep into the back of the court and allowing him to control a lot of the rallies from the baseline.
4: Think again. Although Cilic’s lob lands just inches inside the baseline, Murray somehow reaches it, swivels and fires an unstoppable flicked forehand past the Croat to break serve with the 14th shot of a sensational rally. Cue screams of joy from Murray, his entourage and the Melbourne fans. Cilic, in contrast, looks stunned ¿ and beaten
He was being the real aggressor and had surely strategised that he needed to be because he did not want to get into a drawn out match going over several hours. You could tell he gave it one big last effort in the middle of the third set but the match was probably done already as Andy’s level had gone up so much.
Cilic threw every punch he could. Andy took them and was still standing at the end.
