Murray reaches first Italian Open final
British number one Andy Murray reached his first Italian Open final with a straight-set victory over unseeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
Murray, seeded second, won 6-2 6-1 in a rain-interrupted semi-final at Rome’s Foro Italico.
The Scot, who will be 29 on Sunday, broke serve four times as he won in 59 minutes.
Murray will next face either Novak Djokovic, who beat him in last week’s Madrid Open final, or Kei Nishikori.
Murray makes swift progress despite rain
The first semi-final was delayed by an hour because of heavy rain, and the players were forced off for 15 minutes during the first set.
“I think it is the first time since I’ve been on Tour that I’ve not had chance to hit balls before going on to the court,” said Murray.
“It pretty much rained non-stop and then they flipped the schedule around so I didn’t feel that comfortable coming on to court.
“But he made a few mistakes and I served well to make it easy for myself.”
In between the showers, Murray was at his ruthless best against world number 52 Pouille, playing his first ATP Masters semi-final.
The 22-year-old looked nervous as he dropped serve from 40-0 in the fourth game and – after that brief rain delay – Murray broke again to clinch the set.
It was a similar story in the second set, with Murray repeatedly drawing his opponent into the net and setting up the passing shot.
Two more breaks of serve gave Murray the match and he left the Centrale Court in sunshine, having surpassed his best effort of reaching the last four in 2011.
Djokovic could provide final test
Murray could complete his preparation for the French Open, which starts on 22 May, by facing world number one Djokovic in Sunday’s final.
The Serb, 28, is a strong favourite to beat Nishikori in the second semi-final, and has won 12 of his past 13 matches against Murray.
“Any time you get the chance to play the best players, especially right before a Slam, is great preparation,” said Murray.
“Regardless of who I play in the final, I know I will be pushed hard. That’s what you want.”
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