Andy Murray says he expects a battle to reach his fourth Australian Open final after seeing off home favourite Nick Kyrgios in the quarter final.
Murray sealed a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 straight-sets win over the 19-year-old in the Rod Laver Arena to keep up his perfect grand-slam record over Australian opponents.
The win sets up a clash with Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych who had earlier dispatched of Rafael Nadal in straight sets.
Murray looked cool and composed throughout the win and in the end it was experience that showed with the Olympic singles champion hitting 48 winners to Kyrgios’ 36 and ten fewer unforced errors than his young opponent.
But he was full of praise for Kyrgios and says he is expects big things from him in the future.
“It was a tricky match and was pretty windy so it was tough for both of us. I tried to start as quickly as possible because I know how dangerous Nick is,” he said.
“I’ve watched his matches unfold for the last 18 months or so and I know exactly what he’s capable of and I wasn’t going to underestimate him at all.
“Nick is a huge hitter of the ball so I tried to keep it out of his strike zone as much as possible.
“It’s completely understandable that Nick got great support the whole time and to play in front of a packed crowd with a lot of great players watching was a privilege.
“It’s (the match with Berdych) a tough match; he’s another big big hitter of the ball. He’s played extremely well so far this tournament and I don’t think he’s dropped a set.
“It’s going to be very tricky but hopefully I’ll put on a good performance.”
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