Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships 2017: ATP Scores and Results from Friday
World No. 1 Andy Murray moved past Lucas Pouille into the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship on Friday, securing a professional 7-5, 6-1 win.
The three-time Grand Slam champion won a scrappy opener before finding form in the second set. Murray will take on Fernando Verdasco in the final, as the veteran Spaniard dug deep to overcome Robin Haase 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1 in the day's earlier semi.
Here are the results in full from Dubai and a recap of an absorbing day, as four became two in the race to be crowned champion.
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| (1) Andy Murray bt. (7) Lucas Pouille | 7-5, 6-1 |
| Fernando Verdasco bt. Robin Haase | 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1 |
Friday Recap
In the opening set, both Murray and Pouille failed to build much impetus, as they each struggled with the ball in hand.
Indeed, the top seed raced into a 3-0 lead early on, but given his uncertainty on serve, the Frenchman was able to re-establish himself. Four games and two breaks later, the world No. 15 was ahead at 4-3.
Murray slowly turned the screw as the set went on, though. He broke back immediately to level before finding some consistency on serve to move 6-5 ahead. From that position he was able to apply some pressure to his opponent, and at the second time of asking, he snatched the set.
Per Tennis TV, it was clear the Scotsman was starting to find his revered touch out on court:
That was on show at the start of the second stanza, with Murray once again blitzing into a 3-0 lead. However, this time there was an assurance about the Scotsman's play, and he grabbed the double break to move into a position of real comfort at 4-0.
From there, there was no coming back for Pouille, who was still reeling from losing such a tight first set. Eventually he did well to avoid a bagel, holding his serve at the third time of asking, before Murray closed it out.
Verdasco is the man who stands between the world No. 1 and the title, as he continued his unexpected sequence at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre.
The 33-year-old had to draw on all of his experience to get past Haase, though, who battled gamely throughout the contest. Indeed, the even nature of the match was epitomised by a tight first set and a subsequent tiebreak, which was won by the Spaniard 7-5.
The second also looked set to be determined by a breaker before Haase found some form.
As noted by Sport360's Reem Abulleil, the Dutchman was absorbing what his opponent had to offer and throwing it back, taking the second set in the process:
Despite being the younger man, the latter stages of the second set did seem to take a lot out of the legs of Haase, who was sluggish in the first game of the decider, losing his serve to love.
That was the wake-up call Verdasco needed. From there, he built momentum, eventually cruising to a 6-1 scoreline in the third stanza.
Jose Morgado of Record was impressed and summed up how cleanly the Spaniard was striking the ball:
Per TennisTV, the man himself was delighted, too:
For Verdasco to make it so far on this surface is a superb achievement; it's the first time he's reached the final of an ATP event that wasn't on a clay court since 2010.
You sense he'll have to take his game up another level if he's to overcome Murray in the final, though. The Scotsman has had some scares at this event and has had to battle hard to make it this far. However, on the big stage, he so often brings his best to the table.
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