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Andy Murray v Milos Raonic: Australian Open 2016 semi-final – live!
It’s been raining in Melbourne today and the roof on Rod
Laver Arena has been shut, but it seems that they’re going to open it in
a minute. Will that favour either player?
These two last met in the Madrid Masters last year, when Andy Murray was unstoppable on clay and Milos Raonic was struggling with injuries. Murray won 6-4,
7-5 and he also beat Raonic 6-3, 7-5 when they met at the ATP World
Tour Finals in 2014. Yet their head-to-head record is 3-all and Raonic
has had two victories over Murray on hard courts before, in Tokyo 2012
and Indian Wells in 2014.
Hello. Given
Novak Djokovic’s brutal dismissal of Roger Federer in the first
semi-final yesterday, you could be forgiven for thinking that Andy
Murray and Milos Raonic are playing for the right not to make it into
Sunday’s Australian Open
final. Quite frankly, you’d need to have something wrong with you to
want to play Djokovic in this mood. Most of us struggle with the thought
of getting out of bed on Monday morning, or making eye contact with
colleagues, so it’s impossible to understand anyone who when presented
with the option of a) letting a Serbian tennis machine push you around a
court for three dispiriting hours and b) flying home on a private jet
after already earning lots of money would go for the first option.
Weirdos.
But elite athletes aren’t like the rest of us. While it’s
not quite the case that nothing is more important than reaching the
final, given Murray’s impending fatherhood and his father-in-law’s
recent illness, there’s no chance of either player turning down the
first option, no matter how unappealing it looks. Obviously they’d plan
on adding a couple of tweaks to it, backing themselves to deny Djokovic a
sixth Australian Open title.
They’ve got to get there first,
though, and this is a hard one to call. It should be straightforward on
paper, the world No2 against the 13th seed, but Raonic has
started the year in superb form and his performances down under will
boost his belief that the only reason he’s not in the top 10 is because
of the injuries that ruined his 2015. Previously regarded as nothing
more than a big server, Raonic has made some interesting adjustments in
the off-season, volleying with more regularity, speeding points up,
improving his backhand and displaying more variety. Add that to an
already fearsome forehand and it’s not hard to see why he’s in the
semi-finals. He’s unbeaten in 2016 and has already taken out the 2014
champion, Stan Wawrinka, and also beat Roger Federer in straight sets in
Brisbane. The 25-year-old is a serious contender to win his first grand
slam title.
Australian Open TV | Australian Open 2016 Live final
Murray will have to be at his best as he attempts
to reach the final for a fifth time. If he is, then it is probable that
his wiles, stamina, class and ability to frustrate big servers will be
enough. Not many players can neutralise the Raonic serve, but only
Djokovic is a better returner than Murray. Yet there are other concerns
for the Scot, who has admitted that it is not been easy for him to stay
focused with so much happening in his personal life away from the court.
He could still get the call that his wife Kim has gone into labour,
which would see him quit the tournament and fly home early, while there
was the added distraction of his father-in-law, Nigel Sears, collapsing
while he was watching Ana Ivanovic’s match on Rod Laver Arena last
Saturday. Thankfully he’s recovered, but it’s understandable that Murray
has experienced a few dips on his way into the last four.
Australian Open 2016 Live Score | Australian Open 2016 Results | Australian Open 2016 Winner
His
serve was vulnerable against David Ferrer and Bernard Tomic. Yet he
found a way through in both matches and for all the doubts, Murray’s
still not gone close to losing. He won’t have good memories of losing to
another big server, Kevin Anderson, when he was in full sweary mode
during a fretful fourth-round defeat at the US Open last year, and his
head-to-head with Raonic is locked at 3-all. But if he casts his mind
further back, he’ll recall that he defeated Raonic in straight sets in
the US Open in 2012. And who can tell me how that tournament turned out
for Murray?
Play begins at: 8.30am GMT, 7.30pm in Melbourne.
Australian Open 2016 semi-final – live!
![Australian Open 2016 semi-final – live!]()
Reviewed by
Unknown
on
14:03:00
Rating:
5
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