Andy Murray cruises past Nuno Borges to reach Nottingham Open final and continue quest for second title in a week

Andy Murray marched into the final of the Nottingham Open with a straight-sets win over Nuno Borges to extend his winning streak and put him on the brink of a second title in the space of a week.

Murray claimed a 6-3 6-2 victory in 72 minutes, his ninth consecutive win since the grass-court season started.

“Obviously you come here to enjoy the tennis, but ultimately you want to win the event. It’s brilliant that I get the opportunity to try and do that tomorrow,” Murray said.

“I thought the start of the match was really good,” he added.

“The second set was quite scrappy, both of us had chances to break. The second set wasn’t so good, but the first set was high level. I was really happy with it, didn’t give him many opportunities.

“But that can happen, you’re not going to play your best all the time, there is going to be blips during matches and during tournaments. I managed to deal with it OK and got over the line in the end.”

Murray will face 20-year-old Frenchman Arthur Cazaux in Sunday’s final, after the world No. 181 continued his impressive run in Nottingham by beating fifth seed Dominik Koepfer 7-5 6-2.

“I practiced with him [Cazaux] a few weeks ago in Aix-en Provence, he’s a top young French player. It will be a good one,” Murray said.

“I’ve played a lot of youngsters recently and it’s always tough to play against them. When I was that age coming up and you’re playing against more experienced players, you’ve watched them playing on the TV and you know their games a little bit.

“Some of the young guys who have just come out of juniors, it’s my first time seeing them and it’s tricky. But we did get to practice together a few weeks ago, so hopefully not too many surprises.”

Murray is finding form in Challenger events in the build-up to Wimbledon as he looks to earn a seeding, with the Brit currently ranked 44th and needing to break into the top 32.

Murray earned what proved to be the decisive breakthrough of the opening set at his first opportunity, following up a hold of serve by breaking Borges.

The Scot raced into a 40-0 lead and while Borges managed to save two break points, Murray pounced on the third.

The former world No. 1 was in imperious form on serve as he conceded just one point in the next two service games before landing his third and fourth aces to serve out the set at 6-3.

Murray didn’t face a single break point and boasted an impressive 86% rate of first-serve points won to leave the Portuguese scratching his head about how to respond.

The Brit took another early break in the second set, but this time Borges broke straight back, leaving his opponent howling in anger.

A fired-up Murray responded with an instant break back, before saving double break point to consolidate with a hold.

The three-time major winner then pressed home his advantage by setting up three break points and taking the first with some trademark defensive work, while he saved two break points as he served out the match.

In Stuttgart, Frances Tiafoe will face Jan-Lennard Struff for the trophy after the pair eliminated Marton Fucsovics and Hubert Hurkacz respectively in the semi-finals.

Third seed Tiafoe won 6-3 7-6(11) and didn’t face a single break point as he advanced to within one step of his third tour-level career title.

Struff will have the chance to win his first ATP title on Sunday after coming from behind to beat fourth seed Hurkacz 3-6 6-3 6-3.