It's Murray versus Young

World No 4 Andy Murray and American rising star Donald Young will battle it out for the US$644,000 PTT Thailand Open trophy this afternoon at the Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani.
The top seed from Great Britain was back in the final for the second time in the capital city after he tamed 2009 champion Gilles Simon of France 6-2 3-6 6-2 in one hour and 53 minutes. Facing him across the net at 3pm today will be American young gun Donald Young who upset world No 9 Gael Monfils of France 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) after 2 hours and 46 minutes of fight.
Murray, who lost to Roger Federer in the 2005 final, recovered from a lapse in the second set to reign supreme over the world No 12 to extend his head-to-head meetings record over the Frenchman to 8-1.
 “It’s always difficult playing against Gilles. He’s probably going to finish the year in the top 10. He doesn’t give you matches. He makes you work hard. I’m happy that I managed to stay patient in the end,” said Murray, who six years ago received a wildcard here and surprisingly made it to his first career final.
 “It’s great to be back. I have played here a few times but haven’t been back for a while. I’m glad to be back in the final and I hope I can get one better than the first time I got here,” added Murray who is tied 1-1 in meetings with Young. He lost the first time they met in Indian Wells this year 6-7 (3-7) 3-6 before avenging his loss with a 6-2 6-3 6-3 victory at the US Open.
“I played well against him in the US Open. I will try to stick with the same tactics. You never know how a guy will react in his first final. Sometimes it goes badly but sometimes it goes the other way. He might be a bit nervous but he doesn’t have anything to lose. It’s gonna be tough but I will be ready to fight.”
The world No 55 Young had never before made it to a final, with the semi-final in Washington as his best attempt this season. The upset over the world No 9 redeemed his pride after losing easily 6-1 6-1 to the Frenchman  in the Cincinnati Masters three years ago.
“I’m excited. I’m happy to be in my first final. I have seen a lot of my peers in finals. It’s great to beat a top 10 player of the calibre of Gael,” said the 22-year-old Young who put up a gritty fightback from 1-4 down in the third set.
“Lately in the big matches that I’ve won, I’ve been down. I have to come back from breaks down. I just tried to fight and not give up. It paid dividends at the end of match,” added Young who just started training with Michael Sell, the ex-coach of former world No 1 Monica Seles. Young will attempt to be the third American to lift the trophy in Thailand following Taylor Dent in 2003 and James Blake in 2007.
 “I hope to take a step further. We’ll see how it goes. Andy is definitely a world class player. It’s going to be tough for either person. Hope I go out there and have a good match,” added the American who is here with his mother Illona.
“Without my mom, I wouldn’t be playing tennis in the world period. It’s definitely great to have her here and have her see my best success in the tournament so far,” Young said.