Into AO Final!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Andy is through to his second Grand Slam final after coming from a set down to beat Marin Cilic, 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 at the Australian Open.

He’ll now face either Roger Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday’s final, somewhere no Brit has ventured since John Lloyd in 1977.

He goes there having arguably conjured up not one but two shots of the tournament – the first turned the match and the secondsimply served as the icing on the cake.

So another class performance from Andy, against an opponent who is dangerous even when down, and especially so when in front.

Such was the case here as Cilic dominated the early exchanges to take the first set, and fancied his chances with 0-30 on Andy’s first service game of the second.

But the definitive turning point arrived three games later at break point on the Cilic serve: Andy chased down a net cord and cut out a pass before looking the odds on loser as a lob sailed over him.

Cilic waited at the net for the easy put away, only to watch in horror as Andy passed him from way past the baseline, back to the net.

As winner’s go it was far bigger than just a break point, it changed the match; Andy had faltered at the start, but the blue touch paper was lit in an instant and he comfortably levelled at a set apiece.

The booming groundies and faultless serving that had secured the Croat two breaks in the first set quickly lost their edge.

Broken early in the third, he just about held firm with a break of his own, but a tired looking drop shot in the sixth game told its own story. Andy cruised to a two sets to one lead.

His game was purring in the fourth set but Cilic looked flatter and flatter: he fell 1-4 down thanks to an increasingly ragged error count, and that left just enough room for the piece de resistance as Andy served for the match.

At 15-all, Cilic took a wild swing at a return, sending an apparent winner rifling toward the stands at no more than a foot off the ground.

That sent Andy on the chase way out wide, wheels spinning, to a return that he threaded between umpire chair and net post.

Everyone knew he had no right to make it – him, Cilic, the entire crowd – but he did, and everyone bar Cilic went mad.

A fitting end, and prelude, to Sunday’s final.

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