MASON, Ohio (AP)—Andy Murray was a little better at surviving.
The Scotsman overcame a pair of break points late in the second set, then another in the tiebreaker, beating American Mardy Fish 6-3, 7-6 (8) Saturday and advancing to the final at the Western & Southern Open.
Murray will play No. 1 Novak Djokovic after the Serb advanced when Tomas Berdych withdrew from their semifinal. He’ll be trying for only his second tournament win this season, to go with his title at the Queen’s Club in June.
He held on during a 2-hour, 18-minute match on a hot, humid afternoon that took a toll on both players. Murray repeatedly bent over and grabbed the back of his legs during a close second set that included six service breaks.
The fourth-ranked Murray lost his opening match in Montreal last week, but recovered quickly in Cincinnati, where he reached the semifinals for the fifth time in his past six tournaments.
Now, he gets a chance for his second title in Cincinnati—he also won it in 2008, his first Masters series championship.
This one was a struggle.
Fish has gotten the better of his matches against Murray lately, beating him three times last year. Plus, he’s on one of the best spurts of his career, winning 14 of his last 16 matches coming in. He reached the semifinals with one of the best wins of his career, beating No. 2 Rafael Nadal for the first time in seven matches.
He’ll be the top-ranked American heading into the U.S. Open.
“It will be much different for me this time, in a good way,” Fish said. “I hope to keep playing the way I’m playing. I’m right there. I played good all week. Just trying to solidify my spot, show that I belong, convince myself that I belong as well.”
Fish showed right away that he badly wanted to reach the Cincinnati finals for a second year in a row.
During the fourth game, Fish came to the net and dived while trying to make a return, landing hard on his right knee. Blood trickled from two scrapes by the knee for the rest of the game, which Murray won to break serve and go up 3-1.
It was a telling moment. Fish was the only player who hadn’t lost a game off his serve during the tournament. He would be broken four times overall in a match full of break chances.
Murray came to the net only once during the set, putting away an overhead in the clinching game. Then, he broke Fish to start the second set, quieting a crowd that was trying to rally him. Fish broke right back, getting a chance to gain some momentum.
From then on, it was a matter of saving points to keep it going, and Murray was a little better at it. There were four straight breaks, six in all, during the second set.
Murray held serve to tie it at 5, then had a triple break opportunity in the next game. Fish escaped with the help of another ace, then wasted a couple break points of his own, sending it to the tiebreaker.
At that point, Murray was starting to show the strain, grabbing the back of his legs and bending over to stretch them after chasing down a shot.
He overcame a set point during the tiebreaker, took it to 8-7, then appeared to end it by returning Fish’s second serve down the line. Fish thought the shot was on the line, but challenged the call anyway while approaching the net to shake hands.
The replay showed the ball was barely out. The tiebreaker was all even at 8.
“I thought it was in,” Fish said. “I was lucky. I was really surprised.”
Two points later, it was finally done.