By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, November 18, 2016
Andy Murray dissected Stan Wawrinka, 6-4, 6-2, to score his 22nd straight victory and set up a London semifinal with Milos Raonic.
Photo credit: Craig Mercer/CameraSport
An unnerving mix of astute angles and ingenious changes of pace from Andy Murray shattered Stan Wawrinka twice today.
Befuddled and broken by Murray again, Wawrinka snapped his Yonex racquet over his knee then hurled the mangled stick against an innocent bystander racquet creating more carnage in the process.
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Deconstructing major rivals with sharp combinations, Murray continues building toward a final showdown with Novak Djokovic with the London title and year-end No. 1 ranking on the line.
In a rematch of the Roland Garros semifinals, Murray reeled off five straight games dissecting Wawrinka, 6-4, 6-2, to secure his spot in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
A multi-tasking Murray continues to craft success on several levels.
The streaking Scot scored his 22nd consecutive victory, completed round-robin play with a 3-0 record in the John McEnroe Group, nudged ahead of Djokovic in the race for year-end No. 1 and set up a semifinal clash with Milos Raonic.
"I think (Raonic has) played very well this event," Murray told ESPN's Darren Cahill afterward. "I saw a bit yesterday (of Raonic against) Thiem. He obviously always serves well. So if I can get enough returns back in play and try to build the point from there, that's what has worked for me this year and hopefully I can do it again tomorrow."
The second-ranked Djokovic, who now trails Murray by 130 points in the race for No. 1, will play Kei Nishikori in Saturday's semifinals. Four-time defending champion Djokovic completed round-robin play 3-0 atop the Ivan Lendl Group.
The Murray-Raonic semifinal is a rematch of the Wimbledon final, where Murray prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to capture his second Wimbledon championship in the last three years.
After Murray rallied past Raonic at Queen's Club in June, the man known as "The Missile" revealed a ballistic game plan for their rematch.
“Try to go Try to go through him. Maybe I can blow a hole through his stomach next time, we’ll try,” Raonic said of Murray.
Turning his shoulders into shots with menacing intent, Wawrinka was in full wrecking-ball mode from the start of today's round-robin match.
The US Open champion came out cracking the ball with authority blasting through a love hold to open. Murray was on his heels a bit as Wawrinka scorched his fifth ace and 15th winner building a 3-2 lead.
The top seed weathered the barrage and used his guile and hustle to carve out the break. Following a net-cord shot forward Murray coaxed a netted volley to earn the first break.
The break set the crowd buzzing.
Murray amplified the noise throwing down a love hold to consolidate for 5-3.
Playing the slice backhand more frequently to deny his opponent pace, Murray shrewdly flipped the script and smoke a deep two-handed backhand for a set point. Murray could not convert, but curled a short angle forehand crosscourt for a second set point. Wawrinka calmly erased it following a kick serve forward for a forehand volley winner.
Whipping a backhand winner down the line, Wawrinka quelled the threat holding for 4-5.
Murray slid a slice serve into the corner converting his first set point on his own serve. By collecting the 49-minute opening set, Murray qualified for Saturday's semifinals.
A disconsolate Wawrinka fell into triple break point problems to start the second set. Then things got worse. Wawrinka shanked his signature shot, the one-handed backhand, put his hands on his hips and stared into space gifting the break and a 1-0 lead.
Murray withstood a break point to back up the break then used his legs and unerring strikes pressuring Wawrinka's serve in the third game.
Launching a frustrated forehand well beyond the baseline, Wawrinka looked like a man without answers staring down another break point. Murray, who had hurt the Swiss with his lateral movement, spread the court then raced forward knocking off a forehand volley winner for the break and a 3-0 lead.
Dropping his fourth straight game was a bridge too far for the Swiss.
An enraged Wawrinka spiked his racquet, then picked it up and snapped it in half over his knee. Collateral damage came into play as Wawrinka hurled the mangled stick at a stray innocent stick in front of his racquet bag before breaking that one in the process.
When Wawrinka missed a routine return on break point, he belted a ball over the scoreboard that hangs over the court as Murray worked through his fifth straight game.
Even playing with a broken string, Murray posed problems.
Wawrinka shanked one final forehand to end it in 86 minutes. The Wimbledon winner and US Open champion exchanged a respectful handshake at net. Wawrinka, who has beaten world No. 1 players in all three of his Grand Slam finals, dropped to 0-20 vs. top-ranked players in non Grand Slam final matches.
The 31-year-old Swiss can look back on a season in which he won four titles, including his third Grand Slam championship at the US Open, rising to a career-high rank of No. 3. While Murray looks ahead to the possibility of joining older brother Jamie Murray securing an all-Murray year-end No. 1 ranking.
"I feel good," Andy Murray said. "Obviously played a lot of matches. My body is just conditioned for playing tennis matches now. After Paris I didn't hit a ball for four days. Same after Shanghai, took five full days off. I've managed my rest and recovery days much better the last two months and it's helped my game a lot."