Rome Masters: Murray cruises into Italian Open final

Crushes Pouille 6-2, 6-1 in rain-interrupted encounter

ROME: Britain’s Andy Murray qualified for his first Rome Masters final yesterday after cruising past Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-2, 6-1 in their rain-interrupted semi-final.

Murray, the second seed in the Italian capital, swept past Belgium’s David Goffin on Friday to make the last four for only the second time after 2011.

Pouille, a lucky loser, had reached his first Masters semi-final on a walkover after quarter-final opponent Juan Monaco of Argentina pulled out on Friday before their match.



Pouille had caused a shock when he ousted Spanish ninth seed David Ferrer in the third round on Thursday.

But facing world number three Murray was a step too far for the 22-year-old, who had 25 unforced errors in a one-sided encounter that was interrupted early in the second set.

The Scot pointed out that Pouille made many errors and he felt that he served well. “I didn’t feel that comfortable coming out on the court, obviously the break as well at 4-2 was tricky too. He made quite a few mistakes and I served well today and made it easy for myself.”

He added: “Any time you get the chance to play the best players, especially right before a slam, it’s great preparation. The few matches I have played here have been fairly quick matches and regardless of who I play today, I know I’ll be pushed extremely hard and be put in difficult situations, difficult moments. That’s what you want.”

Djokovic beat Murray in the final of the Madrid Masters last Sunday.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2016.

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