ANDY Murray’s quest for a second Wimbledon title moved to within one victory of fruition after the world No.2 flew past Tomas Berdych in their semi-final.Murray was rarely troubled by his Czech rival as he came through 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to book a final showdown with Milos Raonic, who eliminated Roger Federer in five sets earlier yesterday.
Despite boasting two Grand Slams – the 2012 U.S. Open and 2013 Wimbledon titles – this will actually be Murray’s 11th Major final, and his first against an opponent other than Federer or Novak Djokovic.
He triumphed over Canadian Raonic at Queen’s Club prior to these championships and has won their last five encounters, a run stretching back to 2014.
Murray broke in the second game of the first set to suggest he would romp home to an early victory, but Berdych was quickly able to overturn the deficit.
It was not long, however, before Murray was able to break again as he closed the set down and set the tone for a relatively one-sided contest.
While the second set was hard-fought, with long rallies and plenty of missed opportunities to break on each side, Berdych’s game was riddled with inconsistencies as Murray broke his Czech rival during his strongest spell on the match – sapping much of his resistance.
Going into the third set, Berdych had a mountain to climb and though he battled on in the first few games, it was Murray again who edged in front before wrapping up victory.