Murray to face Verdasco in Dubai final

Andy Murray will face Fernando Verdasco in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Championships following a straight-sets victory over Lucas Pouille.

The world No.1 stumbled through the opening set before producing a dominant display in the second to secure a 7-5 6-1 success over the Frenchman.

Murray initially showed no ill-effects of Thursday’s gruelling quarter-final victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber as he won the opening three games but the world No.15 Pouille hit back, breaking the Scot twice as he won the next four.

The Briton then reasserted his authority by winning four of the next five games to wrap up the opening set in an hour and eight minutes.

Pouille’s disappointment at falling short in the first set seemed to break his resistance and Murray, a runner-up at the tournament in 2012, cruised through the second in just 27 minutes.

“It was tough. I don’t think it was the best match, but there was some good stuff in there, middle and towards the end of the first set,” Murray said after the match. “I think potentially matches yesterday had something to do with that, because I think sometimes, if your legs are a little bit tired, that the serve is one of the first things that goes.”

“As the match went on, I started serving a bit better and that helped me. The first set was very important to win after how the matches went yesterday.”

Spaniard Verdasco awaits the Scot in Saturday’s final after he beat Holland’s Robin Haase 7-6(5) 5-7 6-1 in Friday’s first semi-final.

Haase started the match with a break, but Verdasco was able to bring the set back on serve and take the opener in the tiebreak. The second seemed to be heading in a similar direction when Haase broke at 5-5 and secured the decider. Any momentum that the Dutchman had was quickly extinguished, with Verdasco breaking immediately and cruising to the win.

“I fought and stayed mentally strong after losing the second set,” Verdasco said after the match. “I started to push a little harder, going through the ball instead of going back, trying to be more aggressive, to play on top of the baseline or trying to be even inside the court.”

Murray leads the career head-to-head with Verdasco 12-1.