Nottingham Open 2023: Andy Murray beats Nuno Borges to reach second successive grass-court final

Britain’s Andy Murray moved into his second successive grass-court final with a win over Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the Nottingham Open semi-finals.

Murray, 36, won the Surbiton Trophy last Sunday, his first title in Britain since 2016, and will play French qualifier Arthur Cazaux in the final.

Cazaux, 20, is the world number 181 and beat fifth seed Dominik Koepfer.

In the women’s event, Katie Boulter faces Jodie Burrage in the first all-British WTA final since 1977.

“You come here to enjoy the tennis but ultimately you want to win the tournament,” said Murray after completing a 6-3 6-2 win over third seed Borges, the world number 73.

“I practised with him [Cazaux] a few weeks ago, he is a top young French player so it will be a good one.

“I’ve been playing a lot of youngsters recently and it’s always tough. Some of these guys it’s the first time seeing them but I’ve practised with him so hopefully not too many surprises.

“I’ve enjoyed it [the tournament] a lot. The courts are brilliant in terms of quality and some of the best grass courts I’ve played on so well done to groundsman and their team for making them so good – it’s why the quality of tennis has been good.”

Murray is 44th in the world rankings and trying to get into the top 32 before Wimbledon, which begins on 3 July.

He has now won nine matches in a row and not dropped a set in the last six of them, including all four matches in Nottingham.

Murray stormed into a 4-1 lead after only 16 minutes and broke Borges’ serve early in the second set with the Portuguese unable to recover.

After Sunday’s final, Murray’s next tournament will be at the Queen’s Club Championships in London.

He has been drawn against seventh seed and world number 18 Alex de Minaur of Australia, a player Murray has never beaten in their three previous meetings, in the opening round.

Britain’s Neal Skupski, along with Dutch team-mate Wesley Koolhof, won the men’s doubles of the Libema Open in Rosmalen, the Netherlands.

The pair played the duo of Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the final and recorded a 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 win.

In Nottingham, the men’s doubles final was an all-British affair with the team of Jacob Fearnley and Johannus Monday beating the pairing of Liam Broady and Jonny O’Mara 6-3 6-7 (10-7).