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Mighty Andy Murray makes final

Scot then won eight successive points to lead 5-4 serving out comfortably to take the opening set

Paris: Andy Murray defeated David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Paris Masters final for the first time in his career. The Scot blew hot and cold in a roller-coaster of a match, but in the end he had too much firepower for the veteran Spaniard, a winner in Paris in 2012.

In Sunday’s final the second seed will take on either top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic or French Open champion Stan Wawrinka. Murray, whose end-of-season priority remains the Davis Cup final against Belgium in three weeks time, opened the stronger, but Ferrer erased an early break to level at 4-4.

The Scot then won eight successive points to lead 5-4 serving out comfortably to take the opening set. Ferrer broke first in the second set to lead 3-1, but Murray promptly stepped up a gear to pocket the next five games to clinch his fourth Masters 1000 series final of the year, having won in Madrid and Montreal.

It was his most comprehensive win over Ferrer since a 6-2, 6-3 win in Tokyo in 2011 and moved him 11-6 clear in their head-to-heads. Earlier, Novak Djokovic extended his win streak to 20 at the Paris Masters on Friday, defeating Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/8) to reach the semifinals.

The straight sets victory for world number one Djokovic also meant that he has now won 28 sets in a row. Djokovic will next play Wawrinka, who sent Nadal packing 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (9/7), the Swiss having defeated him the last time the two men met in Paris in the French Open final in June. That defeat prevented Djokovic from accomplishing a calendar year Grand Slam.

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( Source : AFP )
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