Murray breezes past Mathieu and into Marseille final
The British No1 Andy Murray claimed a comprehensive 6-2, 6-2 victory over eighth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu in today’s Marseille Open 13 final.
The Scot, who missed Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Argentina last week because of a knee complaint, was fighting fit as he brushed aside the Frenchman in just over an hour, breaking Mathieu twice in each set to reach his second final of this year.
Murray started strongly, immediately breaking the home favourite who aided his opponent with a nervous double fault. Mathieu held his next service game to make it 2-1 but Murray maintained his advantage, winning the fourth game without losing a point to go 3-1 up. The set then went with serve, allowing Murray to serve out the opener comfortably.
Mathieu rallied to hold his opening service game in the second set, despite Murray having a break point. But it was only a brief reprieve, as Murray - six years younger than his opponent - reeled off three consecutive games to take gain a commanding advantage.
The Frenchman was overwhelmed as Murray broke again and then soon served for the match, earning three match points with an ace. Mathieu survived the first but hit a backhand into the net on the second to allow Murray ro rapidly wrap up the match and book a place in tomorrow’s final against either Mario Ancic or Marcos Baghdatis.
