By Alberto Amalfi | Saturday, May 2, 2015

 

Andy Murray rallied past Lukas Rosol in the morning then returned to court, sweeping Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 6-4, to reach his first clay-court final in Munich.

Photo credit: BMW Open

Playing his first tournament as a married man, Andy Murray had a short honeymoon with harmony reaching a long-desired destination.

The top seed fought back for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Lukas Rosol in a contentious quarterfinal clash in the morning.

Video: Murray Tells Rosol "Everybody Hates You" in Munich

Then Murray returned to court rallying from a 0-3 deficit to roar past Roberto Bautista Agut, 6-4, 6-4, and advance to his first career clay-court final in Munich.

It is the 47th ATP final for the newlywed, who is playing his first tournament with Jonas Bjorkman as coach while Amelie Mauresmo prepares for the birth of her first child in August.

Playing his third final of the season, Murray will meet two-time champion Philipp Kohlschreiber in Sunday's final.

The fifth-seeded German beat Austrian qualifier Gerald Melzer, Jurgen's younger brother, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the Munich final for the fourth time. Earlier, Kohlschreiber rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over No. 4 seed David Goffin, his first win in three meetings with the Belgian. 

If history repeats, the final could last a while. The last time Murray and Kohlschreiber met, Murray earned an epic 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10 triumph at Roland Garros last year. Though Murray has won two of their three meetings, they've split two clay-court encounters.

Heavy rains washed out Friday's schedule, pressing quarterfinal winners into double duty today.

Murray's day began with a bumpy ride against Rosol. The Czech bumped shoulders with Murray during a changeover and the annoyed Scot responded informing Rosol "Everybody hates you." Check out video of those exchanges here.

Those raw competitive exchanges seemed to recharge Murray. He won 22 of 26 points played on his first serve during the final two sets. Murray broke three times in the decider, scoring his second three-set win over Rosol in as many meetings.

The third-seeded Bautista Agut dished out successive bagels to Victor Estrella Burgos in a 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal victory.

The 16th-ranked Spaniard picked up right where he left off jumping out to a 3-0 lead against Murray and earning break points to extend the advantage to 4-0.

An ornery Murray bounced his racquet off the clay after dropping serve in the opening game, but dug in with defiance. He saved both break points then quickly broke back to turn the match around.

The Murray serve was the keystroke in the semifinal. He served 72 percent, hit 9 aces, won 11 of 16 second-serve points and denied 5 of 6 break points.