Andy Murray ripped Karlovics serve today.  Breaking him four times in an almost routine straight-sets victory to progress to his first Masters Series final.  One more sign that hes finally maturing as a player.
A couple days ago Federer proclaimed Karlovics first serve, unequivocally, the best in tennis.  More surpisingly, he said that Karlovic was the only guy he had to guess against on the return of serve.  But Murray was all over Karlovics service games today.  He would make it to at least -30 more often than not, which, against Karlovic (or Dr. Ivo, as hes often called) is a tremendous effort.  Consider that Federer only managed to break him once, and that no one else even did that well all week.
Murray just looked great, period.  After giving up an early break, he completely took control of the match with the variety of shot thats been touted for years, but which he has seldom employed as judiciously and effectively as he has in the last couple of weeks.  The lanky Scots signature shot has got to be the backhand pass, stretched wide.  Thats one of Nadals signature shots, too, but it looks even more impressive when Murray does it because of his height.  Against Karlovics knifing slice, he needed to get down extra low to hit most of them and it seemed like he was up to the task eight out of ten times.  He was also jerking Karlovic around the court with his forehand, and he executed three perfect lobs against a guy that most players dont even consider lobbing because of his height.
When asked about that specifically in the press conference, Andy answered that Ivo may be tall but he closes the net closer than almost anyone else because of his height and wing-span, thus opening himself up to a lob if its executed perfectly.  He also had an in-depth answer to a detailed question about his return preparation that demonstrated an understanding of kinetics I would more expect from Darren Cahill than an active player.  Weve always known Murray was smart, but its good to not have to put a before it.  He had a great runs early and late last season, but right now it seems like Murray is truly growing into himself.
Strange to think that, just before Wimbledon, he was beginning to look increasingly like a problem child who refused to grow up.  Publishing that memoir before hed even achieved a Grand Slam quarterfinal showed a profound lack of perspective about his life and career, and I thought the grumbling that accompanied itand the meager salesmight actually get to him at Wimbledon.  Instead, he came out looking more business-like than ever and taking care of his matches that way, too, until he ran into grass-court perfection in the form of Gasquet, but managed to tunnel his way out of an un-winnable situation thanks to the Frenchmans brittleness, his own tenacity, and the British crowds desperate supportm not quite sure in what order, but the key is he won.  The loss against Rafa was inevitable, but he played him a lot tighter in the first set at Montreal.
The win over Djokovic, though, considering their history, was the most impressive thing hes done so far this year, even with the Djoker struggling of late, especially on serve.  And todays match win was hugely important, too, not because of getting him to a Masters final or to No. 6 in the rankings, but because it represented a case of him coming out and executing an aggressive game-plan against a uniquely monstrous opponent.  Ironically, its what Federer rather frostily suggested he should do if he wanted to become a top player right after losing to Murray in Dubai.  One more sign of the times.  Federer fails to win the big points in a tight match against Karlovic, and Murray wins enough points that his own match with Ivo never even gets tight.
Its only a couple hours until the days more anticipated semifinal, between Nadal and Djokovic.  Ill be blogging live from Cincy, and its a good thing, too, because it wont be shown live on TV.  Nadal may be tired, but he always wants to win.  He also knows hell hit No. 1 a week sooner if he wins tonight (and be in tomorrow against a guy hes never lost to before with a chance to take over the top spot on Monday).  But the greatest motivation of all has to be his rivalry with Djokovic, who embarassed him the last time they met on hard courts.  This is likely to be the rivalry in the coming years of the sport, and Rafa knows the lions share of its battles will go down on this surface.  For Djokovic, this is a chance to regain the confidence he had a few months ago, when it looked like hed be the one supplanting Federer at the top of the rankings by the end of this season.

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