Andy Murray: Path Is Open for Brit's First Career Grand Slam Title

Andy Murray is two matches away from his first Grand Slam victory, and this U.S. Open might be his best chance to get it.

The British tennis player has had an incredible career, but the 25-year-old is just starting to peak. After losing to Roger Federer in the finals at Wimbledon, he beat him in the Olympics on the same court to win the gold medal. He also added a silver medal in mixed doubles.

Now in his third Grand Slam semifinal of the year, he has a chance to win it all. Rafael Nadal did not enter the tournament due to an injury, while Federer was eliminated in the quarterfinals. This removes two of the top three players in the world.

Unfortunately, the men remaining are all capable of winning as well. Murray's next opponent, Tomas Berdych, serves very hard and efficiently. In his upset win over Federer, he won 80 percent of his first serves and had 14 aces.

On the other side of the bracket lies Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer. Both of these men can break serve as well as anyone in the world and will be tough to beat. Djokovic is also the returning U.S. Open champion and has won four slam titles in the past two years.

Still, the path works out better for Murray than it ever has before.

While Berdych is a good player, he has his faults. He has a dominant first serve, but often struggles to get it in. His second-serve efficiency is 54 percent, 24 percent less than his first-serve efficiency. This plays right into Murray's strength as a great counter-puncher. In 2012, Murray leads the world by winning 56 percent of points on the second serve. 

If Murray does reach the final, it will likely be against Djokovic, the No. 2 player in the world. The two have faced each other 11 times on hard courts and Murray has won five times. They most recently competed in the London Olympics with Murray coming out victorious in straight sets. He should be able to continue his recent momentum and win one more time.

Winning a Grand Slam tournament is never easy, but that is the one thing missing from the resume of Andy Murray. If there was ever a chance to accomplish that feat, now would be the time.

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