Clash of the titans with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in Miami
Scot seeks his third Masters title in Florida showpiece event while Serbian goes for another hard-court double victory
Andy Murray will try to cap a milestone week, while Novak Djokovic is aiming for another hard-court double victory when they square off in the Miami Open final.
Murray will be gunning for his third Miami Masters title after beating Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 on Friday to secure his final berth. It marks the fourth trip to the championship match for Murray who earlier last week joined the elite club of players to win 500 career matches.
Djokovic, who defeated Murray in the Australian Open final earlier this year for his eighth grand slam crown, beat hard-serving John Isner 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Djokovic, 27, is trying to become the first player to sweep the Indian Wells and Miami Masters hard-court titles on three separate occasions. He achieved the US hard-court double in 2011 and again last year.
Andy Murray will try to cap a milestone week, while Novak Djokovic is aiming for another hard-court double victory when they square off in the Miami Open final today
"We have very similar games," Djokovic said of Murray. "We already played twice this year, and in a big match in the Australian Open final which was very, very physical and very close.
"I expect a battle, long rallies, and I know what is expected of me on the court. I know his game pretty well, as well as he knows mine."
Djokovic won the first set against Isner in a tiebreaker then got the early break in the second set to go up 2-1.
His two service breaks against Isner were the key as the towering American had not been broken coming into the semi-final. "He is the best server we have in the game," Djokovic said of Isner.
"He is six foot 10, so he can hit any angle he wants. I didn't know what my preference was - to have him hit his first serve in, or his second serve in. They are both equally good.
"I managed to get a lot of serves back. That was one of the keys of the match. To get into the rally and make him work extra hard."
With the win over Berdych, Murray evened his record against the eighth-seeded Czech at 6-6 and backed up his victory in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. "I thought it was a high quality match," said the 27-year-old, who is set to return to No 3 in the world next week.
"We played some good points. I thought it was a pretty clean match. I felt like I just played a bit better than him. That was the difference."
The two sets unfolded in identical fashion, Murray opening with a break of Berdych's serve, dropping his own serve then breaking again.
I've obviously played some good tennis here over the years. The reason for that is because I'm extremely familiar with the conditions, with the surface, the way the court plays
That second break in each set proved enough for Murray, who is now poised to battle for his first Masters level title since he lifted the trophy there at Crandon Park in 2013.
The Scot certainly feels comfortable at Miami where he won in 2009 and 2013 and lost to Djokovic in the 2012 final.
Murray spends his off-season practice time on the stadium court at the Crandon Park Tennis Centre and has clearly acclimatised to the heat and humidity.
"I've obviously played some good tennis here over the years. The reason for that is because I'm extremely familiar with the conditions, with the surface, the way the court plays," he said.
"There are little things in the court that maybe players that haven't played on it that much won't really know."
