Andy Murray continued his hot start to the year against Richard Gasquet, as the British star made it through the semifinals on Friday to advance to the final match against David Ferrer on Sunday in the Sony Open.
The complex in Florida is a familiar place for Murray, as he trains there for most of the year, and he played a tough match against Gasquet, winning 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-2. Murray stormed back to win to advance against Ferrer, who was able to beat Tommy Haas 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to make it to his first-ever final at Key Biscayne. Murray was a finalist last year and won it in 2009 and will have some momentum behind him after his comeback.
Haas was able to take down Novak Djokovic early in the tournament and now Murray and Ferrer will face off for the hard court tournament title. On the women's side of the draw, Serena Williams took down Maria Sharapova in an exciting three-set match that saw the American star fell behind in the opening set in her eighth final at the tournament. Williams took over at the end of the match, winning 10 straight games to keep her rivalry with Sharapova one-sided.
Murray struggled early against Gasquet, but eventually found his form and the Frenchman couldn't overcome an ankle injury he sustained earlier. Murray rebounded from a double fault with a break chance as dropped his first set of the tournament before taking the next two. Murray dominated in the stats with winners and was able to convert on all but one break chance.
Rafael Nadal is the three-time runner-up at the tournament and Ferrer would mark the first time that a Spanish player has won after dropping the previous five. Murray has a lot riding on the match, as he would move up from number three to number two in the rankings with a win. Murray was the top player left after Djokovic as both Nadal and Federer skipped the event as they head into next month and preparations for the French Open.
Williams had a strong finish after struggling early, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 to extend her winning streak against Sharapova to 11 matches and became the oldest champion to win the tournament. Williams previously won it in 2008 and kept Sharapova from winning in the finals for the fifth time in as many chances. Sharapova has had no recent success against Williams, not winning since 2004.
Sharapova had issues serving throughout the match and now has lost the finals in the tournament for three straight years. Both players will be looking forward to the French Open, where Sharapova took home the title last year to complete her career Grand Slam. Ferrer is a first time finalist in the tournament.