Andy Murray sweeps aside Lucas Pouille in straight sets to reach Rome Masters final
Sunday 15 May 2016 00:50, UK
Andy Murray has reached the final of the Rome Masters for the first time after he swept aside Lucas Pouille in straight sets.
The Scot was only troubled by the weather in a rain-interrupted match and sealed a comfortable 6-2 6-1 win over Pouille in under an hour and he will again face world No 1 Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final.
Murray had never previously played against Pouille, who qualified as a lucky loser and then benefitted from Juan Monaco's withdrawal in the quarter-finals, but the Frenchman's good fortune would end there.
After rain had delayed the start, Murray broke for a 3-1 lead with a fizzing forehand, before a further downpour sent the players back to the changing rooms at 4-2.
Murray did not want to risk another interruption when the match resumed and quickly broke Pouille again to claim the first set.
Pouille was showing glimpses of his talent, in particular with his cleverly disguised drop shot, but was only briefly delaying Murray, who broke again for a 3-1 lead.
The world No 52 could not fend off his opponent for much longer and conceded his serve once more, allowing Murray to book his appearance on Sunday with a thumping ace.
Djokovic defeated the British No 1 in last weekend's Madrid Open final, and he overcame an early injury scare in a tough 2-6 6-4 7-6 win over Kei Nishikori in the later semi-final.
He made quite a few mistakes and I served well today and made it easy for myself.
Murray is expecting a far tougher test against Djokovic as he told Sky Sports: "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.
"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 tomorrow, I know I'll be pushed extremely hard and be put in difficult situations, difficult moments. That's what you want."
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Djokovic needed an injury time-out early in his clash with the Japanese star, appearing to suffer a ankle injury in the first game of a set he went on to lose and look very uncomfortable in.
But his form returned in the second set and a tense decider ended in a tie-break that Djokovic was able to win 7-5, with Nishikori wasting a number of good chances.
And on his injury, an embarrassed Djokovic said: "A message to all the kids out there: don't hit your own ankle when you're cleaning your shoes.
"It was an awkward situation in the first game, I hit myself pretty hard on the ankle and bruised the bone. It hurt for a while, and though the pain faded it returned towards the end of the match."
Watch Andy Murray v Novak Djokovic from 4pm, live on Sky Sports 4.
