Andy Murray is set for his first ATP final appearance in more than two years. A familiar face will be there to welcome him.
Murray and Stan Wawrinka will be squaring off for the 20th time in their careers when they battle for the European Open title on Sunday afternoon. The head-to-head series stands at 11-8 in favor of the 32-year-old Scot, who has won three of their last four encounters after prevailing 6-1, 6-3 on the grass courts of Eastbourne last summer.
It was, of course, downhill almost immediately thereafter for Murray. In fact, the match that really touched off his hip issues came more than a year earlier against none other than Wawrinka. At the 2017 French Open, the Swiss scored a 6-7(6), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1 semifinal victory and Murray has not been the same since. But the Murray of old appears to be coming closer and closer to a return much earlier than expected on the heels of February hip surgery. The three-time major champion 7-2 in his last nine matches following Antwerp wins over Kimmer Coppejans, Pablo Cuevas, Marius Copil, and Ugo Humbert.
“I feel good,” Murray said after overcoming Humbert 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and 22 minutes on Saturday. “It has been a long road to get back to this point. I certainly didn’t expect to get here so soon after I started playing again, so it’s a big surprise for me.”
Wawrinka’s performance is less of a surprise, but at the same time he had been sidelined since the U.S. Open due to a knee injury. The 34-year-old Swiss has shaken off the rust with defeats this week of Feliciano Lopez (in a third-set tiebreaker), Gilles Simon, and Jannik Sinner.
“Stan’s a brilliant player,” Murray commented. “We’ve played against each other a lot in big tournaments. He has had his injury problems as well in the last couple of years. In fact, my last match against him in 2017 was when the problems in my hip really started. I never recovered from that match.”
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
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