In a tournament which had yet to deliver that signature match that comes with almost every Grand Slam event, today’s Tomas Berdych - Andy Murray semi-final showdown had all the makings of being exactly that. While the two combined to put together what was one heck of an opening set, in the end the two-time major winner was simply too good to be denied in advancing to his fourth Australian Open Final in six years with a 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
After battling through what was an extremely hard fought seventy-eight minute opening set and eventually ending up on the wrong side of the score, the No. 6 seed wasted little time in righting the ship and getting back on even terms. While both men played at the highest of levels to start the match, it was the 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist who maintained that level throughout.
As good as Berdych had to have felt about sneaking out that first set tiebreaker, it took Murray all of thirty minutes to grab set number two and more importantly take whatever momentum the No. 7 seed had gained and send him reeling. While the talented Czech had yet to drop a set, it was just a matter of time before it happened.
With that said, going from one extreme to another is never an ideal situation and with his opponent looking as good as he has in some time, it was a recipe for disaster. With every point Murray won his confidence continued to grow, whereas Berdych was headed in the complete opposite direction.
Despite being one the premier players in the game for the last number of years, the pressure of playing crucial matches on such a big stage is a foreign concept for the ten-time ATP Tour winner. While Berdych has certainly managed to carve himself out a very nice career, playing late in majors is not something he is accustomed to doing and the longer this match went, the more obvious it became.
While Murray has had his fair share of struggles in these sorts of matches in the past, much of that was due to the facing the likes of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on a regular basis. With both Federer and Nadal having suffered early exits during this year’s event, the only way the twenty-seven year old would be facing any of the three would be in the final against the talented Serb.
If Djokovic has anything to say about it, chances are the two will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in five years come Sunday night and it will mark the third time the two friends will be playing for all the marbles in Australia. Safe to say Andy Murray will be expecting a far different result this time around.