CINCINNATI: Andy Murray beat Milos Raonic for the fifth time this season as the Olympic gold medallist rode his Rio momentum into the final of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters on Saturday.
Murray posted a 6-3, 6-3 over the Canadian to set up a final with the winner from Grigor Dimitrov and 12th seed Marin Cilic. Murray will be playing in his seventh straight final of the season after winning his 22nd consecutive match.
Murray broke Raonic in an opening game interrupted for 15 minutes by rain, with the fourth seed contributing two double faults which set the tone for the contest.
Murray won his eighth match from 11 meetings with Raonic as the pair played a re-run of July’s Wimbledon final won by the Scot.
Murray claimed his 50th win of the season and is nearing his fifth trophy of 2016.
Murray is mounting a strong bid to displace Novak Djokovic from the number one ranking.
If he were to win the title for a third time he could trail Djokovic by a scant 815 points.
Raonic’s loss denied him a chance to leapfrog injured Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal to take over the third ranking on the ATP list. --AFP