With Kim Sears swearing her public allegiance to Andy Murray in the most unequivocal manner months before they even choose their wedding outfits, the Scot has moved into the final of the Australian Open, a title he looks far better equipped to win than in three attempts since 2010.
He started with a double fault and finished with an ace – his 14th of the match, 65th of the fortnight – and in between played perhaps his best tennis since winning Wimbledon in 2013 to beat the seventh seed Tomas Berdych in four high-octane sets that will be remembered as much for the drama off the court as on it.
Murray has lost twice in finals here to Novak Djokovic and once to Roger Federer but there is every reason to believe, on this form and that which he has shown throughout the tournament, that he can win his third major on Sunday night.
He was by turn patient, stubborn and just too damn good, winning a contest marked by swearing, stare-downs, minor tantrums, an odd time violation and some artful tennis on a chill, still night on Rod Laver Arena, with the man himself among an enthralled audience.
Murray had hoped a forecast stiff breeze would materialise on cue to disrupt Berdych’s high ball-toss, forcing him to crack under pressure – as he did when Murray mastered the remnants of a tornado to win their semi-final at the 2012 US Open – and went on to win his first major. The elements remained calm on Thursday night but, after three hours and 25 minutes, Murray celebrated a thoroughly convincing 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
After breaking back in the first set, Murray fist-pumped towards his box, where Sears stole the show with what appeared to be a rather loud shout of “fucking have it you Czech flash fuck” directed towards the other end of the court, where sat Berdych’s team, including Murray’s former assistant coach, Dani Vallverdu.
An eagle-eyed spectator caught her blast of invective on camera and it was soon doing the rounds on Twitter.
There is no history of animosity between the players. Indeed, Berdych was a smiling presence in the Rally for Cancer doubles match alongside Murray, Lendl and Tim Henman at Queen’s in 2013 to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital, where Murray’s friend, Ross Hutchins, was treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
But maybe Sears was revealing the private tensions in the camp over Berdych’s subsequent attempts to first sign Ivan Lendl, who left Murray last March, then taking his long-time friend Vallverdu on to his back-up team. Whatever the reason, Murray was staunch in her defence. “In the heat of the moment you can say stuff that you regret,” he said, adding that it was the media who had ramped up the tension by dwelling on his split with Vallverdu.
If Murray had not blown a couple of gift-wrapped chances in the first set, he would have had an earlier and easier night all round. But perversity always was his trademark and sheer bloodymindedness got him back on top.
The crowd, generally, were with the Scot, who beat their new teenage hero, Nick Kyrgios, in the quarter-finals. But Vallverdu, whose five-year employment with Murray ended in November, was not among them this time.
Speculation that the Venezuelan’s inside knowledge would undo Murray’s tennis proved unfounded, as Murray, one of the game’s best strategists, out-thought his opponent in most phases of the game.
Also celebrating vocally but less profanely than his fiancee in Murray’s box was his mother, Judy, who cannot stay for Sunday’s final as she has to return to the UK to prepare Great Britain for the Federation Cup match against Liechtenstein next week.
Berdych, serving superbly as the wind stubbornly refused to swirl in Murray’s cause, out-hit Murray off the ground at the start. But he lost his composure at the very moment Murray found his focus and only 24 minutes after taking the first set, he was bageled.
At one point he took a bite out of one of the balls and hit it out of the stadium. Murray got a time violation while waiting for the crowd to quieten after Sears came up on the big screen again, voicing her support for her man. It was a weird, tense occasion.
Breathing heavily and with eyes blazing, Berdych fought all the way to the end. Murray saved break point with a stunning cross-court winner in the sixth game of the fourth set, held, and then served out the match to love with an away-swinging thunderbolt down the T.
“The way I feel today compared with how I felt after losing in four sets last year [to Roger Federer in the quarter-finals], I could barely move at the end of the match because I was so sore and stiff. I felt strong at the end today,” he said.
If Murray keeps his energy, physical and mental, he can be the champion here.
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