Murray and Ancic in Marseille Final

Mario Ancic took out Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals at Marseille to set up a final showdown with fourth-seeded Andy Murray. Murray beat eighth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-2 earlier for his ticket to Sunday’s final.

Not that this is the most interesting piece of tennis news out there but I thought it worthy of note for two reasons. Ancic has been down and out due to injury – missing six months of last season – has been struggling to get back to where he used to be: a former world number seven tennis player.

Murray has been hit and miss with his biggest miss coming in the 2008 Australian Open. He was expected to make some sort of run but was booted in the first round by eventual finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

For those two reasons – the ability for these two players to win and get to the final – that is why this piece of news is noteworthy.

Not that it’s going to be meaningful in the long run but this Saturday in February – it makes a difference.