Murray edges Lopez to move into Farmers Classic final with Querrey
Published:Andy Murray is through to his first final since the Australian Open in January after beating Feliciano Lopez 6-0, 1-6, 6-4 in a roller-coaster three sets at the Farmers Classic.
The world number four now faces 6’6″ American Sam Querrey in the final and is 2/7 to win his maiden ATP Tour title of the season.
Querrey is the reigning champion in Los Angeles, however, so should not be totally discounted. Indeed the world number 20 has three Tour wins under his belt this year and is priced an attractive 5/2 to beat the Briton.
Murray’s semi-final victory was his third match at this event to go the distance, but it hadn’t looked like being that way after the 23-year-old won the first seven games against fourth-seed Lopez.
The Scot then contrived to lose the next six games and the second set but recovered to break in the third game of the final set to secure the win.
22-year-old Querrey, who won at Queen’s earlier this summer, had an equally tumultuous triumph, beating sixth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-4.
Indeed, despite Murray being the clear favourite, having beaten Querrey in all their four previous encounters, a three-set match seems highly probable.
Querrey, who was 5-1 down in the second-set tie-break against Tipsarevic before rallying to win the next six points and send the match into a decisive set, has (like Murray) gone the whole way a total of three times at this tournament.
Another Murray win in three is 3/1, while the same for Querrey is 5/1.
Querrey is the only player on the Tour to have won on three different surfaces this year but Murray should prove too much. The British number one is 5/1 to lose the first set but win the match.
