The finals for the 2013 Sony Open are now set, as No. 2 seed Andy Murray was able to best No. 8 Richard Gasquet on Friday, 6(3)-7, 6-1, 6-2. We’ll get a matchup of No. 2 vs. No. 3 in the finals, as David Ferrer advanced on Friday, as well.
Sony Open Tennis 2013 results: Andy Murray bests Richard Gasquet, advances to finals
No. 2 seed Andy Murray punched his ticket into the finals on Friday, besting No. 8 Richard Gasquet. Murray will face No. 3 David Ferrer on Sunday.
Matthew Stockman
Gasquet and Murray battled it out for the first set, but Gasquet prevailed with an impressive showing after the tiebreak. The match was competitive at that point, but he lost a lot of steam early on in the following set.
In the second set, Gasquet threatened an early break at 1-1, but Murray managed to fight back to hold serve. Then, it was Murray threatening a break point, but he actually secured his, taking a 3-1 lead to his serve. It was all Murray from there, as he held serve, broke Gasquet again, and then held serve for the 6-2 mark in the second. He hit a powerful ace up 40-love on the final point in that second set to seal the deal.
Murray got off to a great start in the third set, breaking Gasquet, but was broken himself immediately after. The two fought hard for the next service game, which was Gasquet’s, as they exchanged the advantage a few times before Murray sealed the deal with yet another break.
At this point, Gasquet was visibly frustrated and looked beaten. Serving down 2-4 in the third set, Gasquet couldn’t get his serve to disturb Murray whatsoever, as Murray broke him again at 40-15 to serve for the match. Again, it was no problem for Murray, who sealed the matchup without issue.
Earlier on Friday, Ferrer punched his ticket to the finals with a strong win over No. 15 seed Tommy Haas, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Haas started strong but got sloppy in the second set, and seemed to tire big time in the third set. It was a strong run for Haas, who took out both No. 11-seed Gilles Simon and No. 1 Novak Djokovic en route to the semifinals.
Ferrer and Murray will face off on Sunday for the ATP singles title.
More from SB Nation:
See More:
