In just 59 minutes at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Andy Murray brushed aside lucky loser Lucas Pouille 6-2, 6-1 in their first meeting to reach his first final in Rome. Murray awaits the winner of the second semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori.
One way traffic
With the match underway a little later than planned due to rain, it was the Brit who got off to a great start. With both players holding serve, the third game would see Murray break Pouille with a forehand winner for 3-1 after chasing down a drop shot. The 28-year-old consolidated and was firmly in control of the set at 4-1.
A heavy brief 15-minute rain delay with Murray serving at 4-2, 40-0 caused the match to be interrupted. At the restart, the Scotsman needed only one point to take a 5-2 lead. With the Frenchman serving, Murray then broke him on his third set point due to a wild forehand from Pouille and the first set was claimed 6-2.
Murray runs away with match; books spot in final
Murray's momentum was to continue into the second set. The opening three games saw a 2-1 lead in favor of the world number three. The Scotsman would have to be patient in the third game and at advantage he would get to his first break point chance in the set, which was saved by the world number 52 with Murray sending a backhand shot long. Not long in the same game would Murray get another break point, and this time he converted to go 3-1 up, just like in the opening set.
He consolidated to love and the match was beyond reach for the lucky loser, who made it to this stage after defeating David Ferrer and getting a walkover to the quarterfinals. The following game would see the two-time Grand Slam champion go even further ahead, breaking his French opponent at the second time of asking.At the first time of asking, Murray closed out the set for a 6-2, 6-1 victory to make the final here in Rome for the very first time.
Stats
Andy Murray served up five aces and one double-fault while Pouille hit four aces and three double faults. The Brit was in red hot form on serve, winning 91 percent points on his first serve and 80 percent on his second. Lucas Pouille won 64 percent on his first serve and on his second only managed to win 33 percent. Murray didn't have to save a break point, but the 22-year-old saved four from eight in the match. The 28-year old converted half of break points with Pouille not able to reach one. Murray won only 36 percent of points on his first return but did improve massively on his second winning 67 percent points. In total, he won 65 percent points in the match.