2020 ATP Houston Open SF: Murray runs into final to face Basilashvili
ANDY Murray’s ATP Tour ranking following his return from injury and temporary retirement continues to skyrocket after he booked his place in tomorrow’s Houston Open final. The unseeded Brit was ranked outside the top 100 coming into the fantasy tennis tournament, but finds himself inside it now after a big win over fifth seed Jan-Lennard Struff. He takes on sixth seed Georgian, Nikoloz Basilashvili for the Houston title.
Murray was back to his absolute best against quality opposition, breaking early against the fifth seed German and getting on the front foot. It helped him to claim the first set, 6-3 in just under an hour, before piling on seven of the last eight games to run out a 6-3 6-1 winner. Regardless of tomorrow’s result, Murray has catapulted himself inside the top 100 into 80th spot on the ATP Tour rankings.
His opponent is Basilashvili who started off looking comfortable before finding the going tough, and eventually shaking off eighth seed Norwegian, Casper Ruud. Basilashvili claimed an easy first set, romping to a 6-1 victory with three breaks and not looking out of place at all on centre court. Coming up against a player whose known preferred surface is clay was always going to be tough, but the going looked good in the early stages of the match.
The second set was a lot tougher for Basilashvili, as both combatants broke each other twice and by the end of the 10th game, the crowd was no clearer to who would win. Luckily for Basilashvili, he held after a huge winner at 40-15, and then following back-to-back unforced errors from Ruud, brought up his first two match points. While the Norwegian saved the first, Basilashvili capitalised on the second for a 6-1 7-5 victory in an hour and 35 minutes.
Having only won two titles since his elite 2016 year – where he claimed a whopping nine – due to injury, it will be a good chance for Murray to gain back some confidence with a win in tomorrow’s final. Basilashvili has only won three titles to-date, with the 28-year-old a back-to-back winner at Hamburg. The Houston Open final will be the first time the pair has faced off on the ATP Tour.
SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:
Andy Murray (GBR) defeated [5] Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-3 6-1
[6] Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) defeated [8] Casper Ruud (NOR) 6-1 7-5
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