Murray Back In Bangkok Final, Faces Young

© AFP/Getty ImagesWorld No. 4 Andy Murray defeated Gilles Simon for the eighth time in nine meetings.

World No. 4 Andy Murray advanced to his fourth tour-level final of the season on Saturday as he battled past Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 at the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok.

The 24-year-old Murray reached his first ATP World Tour final six years ago in Bangkok, finishing runner-up to Roger Federer. He has since gone on to amass 18 trophies, including two this season at the AEGON Championships (d. Tsonga) in London and the Western & Southern Open (d. Djokovic) in Cincinnati.

"It’s great to be in the final," said Murray. "I’ve only played here a few times; I haven’t been back in a while. Hopefully I can go one further than the first time I got to the final here."

In his ninth meeting with the No. 12-ranked Simon, Murray broke serve twice to clinch the opening set. He recovered from an early break down in the second set, but was broken again as Simon forced a decider. Murray quickly regained control, and two more breaks of serve carried him to victory in one hour and 53 minutes. He improved to an 8-1 record over Simon.

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"It’s always tough playing Gilles; he’s a very good player," said Murray. "It was always going to be difficult. He’s probably going to finish the year in the Top 10 again. He doesn’t give you many matches. He makes you work hard for it. I was happy I managed to stay patient in the end."

In the final Murray will face Donald Young for the third time this year. Young stunned Murray at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells shortly after the Scot’s defeat in the Australian Open final, but Murray avenged that loss with victory over Young in the US Open fourth round.

World No. 55 Young reached his first ATP World Tour final as he ousted second seed Gael Monfils 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5). "I’m excited, I’m stoked, all the words that mean you’re happy to be in my first final," declared Young. "I’ve seen a lot of my peers make finals and I’m happy to be in my first one. It’s great to beat a Top 10 player of the calibre of Gael."

The American has more than halved his ranking over the past eight weeks. At the beginning of August he was World No. 128, but runs to the semi-finals at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington D.C. (l. to Stepanek), the fourth round at the US Open and now the final in Bangkok mean he will crack the Top 50 at around World No. 43 on Monday.

The 22 year old trailed 1-4 in the third set, but fought back to force a tie-break and earned match point with a successful Hawk-Eye challenge. He converted it to claim victory in two hours and 46 minutes. "Lately in the big matches I’ve won I’ve been down and I’ve had to come back. I’m just trying to fight and not give up and it pays dividends at the end of matches," explained Young.

Monfils was looking to press his claim for one of the remaining four places at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals; the Frenchman is currently 14th in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings. "Donald played very well. I had opportunities but I didn't manage to play better than him in the key moments of the match," conceded the right-hander. "He was just better than me today."