Murray marches on
Top seed Andy Murray booked his first Queen's semifinal appearance with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over America's Mardy Fish on Friday.
Murray is bidding to become the first British winner at Queen's since 1938 and the Scot remains firmly on course thanks to an impressive quarterfinal display at the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event.
The 22-year-old has yet to drop a set and will face former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero for a place in the final.
After a career-best display at the French Open earlier this month, Murray has adapted quickly to the grass courts of west London and already looks capable of mounting a serious challenge at Wimbledon.
Even against Fish, whose power-game is well suited to grass, there was never any sign that Murray would be blown off course by the eighth seed.
At 5-5 in the first set, Murray finally exploited a chink in Fish's armour to break for the first time and then served out the set.
Murray was able to hold his serve comfortably in the second set and made the all-important break when Fish tamely netted on his second break point of the seventh game.
With Fish looking out of his depth, Murray clinched victory with a blistering return of serve.
"He started well but I hit a few really good passing shots at 5-5 in the first set and managed to break him. I felt much more confident after that," Murray said.
"I knew it was going to be a big test and I was very happy with how I served."
Former French Open champion Ferrero reached the first grass-court semi-final of his career after coming from behind to beat Steve Darcis 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Ferrero has already had a memorable week after achieving his 400th career victory, but the Spaniard, a clay court expert, is now within two matches of winning on grass for the first time.
Darcis, who was bidding to become the first Belgian to reach the last four here, looked like causing an upset when he took the first set.
But Ferrero had no intention of surrendering without a fight. He won the second set easily and broke in the seventh game of the final set before serving out the match.
Ferrero knows facing Murray for the first time will be a tricky test and said: "I never played against him on any surface on the tour. So play here in his country on grass, everything is difficult.
"But I'm feeling great and I just want to be focused on me and on my game, be aggressive and try to enjoy it."
Comments