Murray plays his aces to cruise into last-four meeting with Ferrero

Published on Friday 12 June 2009 23:18

ANDY Murray is bracing himself for the toughest challenge of the Aegon Championships in today's semi-final clash against Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Murray eased past American Mardy Fish in straight sets to reach the last four of the competition for the first time in his career. The British No 1, who is bidding to become the first homegrown winner of the competition since Bunny Austin in 1938, beat Fish 7-5, 6-3 to keep his title bid on track.

Ferrero dispatched Belgium's Steve Darcis 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will provide Murray with a stern test despite his world ranking of 90. Murray dropped just five points on his serve throughout his victory and smashed 11 aces. The Scot is now looking to continue that kind of serving power against his Spanish opponent but admits the rest of his game must match it.

"Ferrero played very well in the last two sets today," said Murray. "I saw some of the match on the TV and he was hitting the ball very well from the baseline. If I serve well I've got a chance like anybody does on grass. I need to make sure that the rest of my game is solid tomorrow. There will be a lot more rallies.

"Ferrero has a very good return. Like I say, he was hitting the ball well from the baseline. The rest of my game will have to be on, not just the serve and the return. I did serve very well today and even when I did miss my first serve, I didn't feel like I was letting him into a rhythm on the return. I returned well towards the end of the first set. From then on, I played much better."

The Queen's Club crowd appear a little more reserved when compared with Wimbledon but Murray is not bothered by the lack of a raucous atmosphere.

"I'm not going to start saying the crowd here is bad or anything," said Murray. "I mean, compared with most tournaments, it's absolutely packed. I guess it's kind of a different atmosphere here. It's a club feel. I don't think the crowd are disrespectful in any way to the players. They enjoy the tennis.

"Wimbledon is noisier, but they do get great crowds here. It's not fair to say the crowd should be making more noise. They're entitled to do whatever they want."

Ferrero insists he will not be frightened of Murray or his reputation when he steps out onto the centre court to face the tournament's top seed.

"I know that Andy is playing amazing," he said. "He had great results last year and also this year. He's No3 in the world, so it is going to be tough to beat him. I think he can become a world No1. He has great talent. He's very young and has a lot of time to try to get No1."

Murray went 0-30 in front before the American, ranked No8 in the world, fought back to take the opening game with a superb ace. But the tournament favourite produced a stunning array of aces to level the scores at 1-1.

Fish restored his lead but Murray again responded with a love game that squared the contest once more at 2-2. The American matched Murray's performance to go back in front before the Scot, with a first-serve match ratio of 75 per cent, was quick to make it 3-3.

Both players held serve to keep the scores level at 4-4 but Murray could do nothing about Fish's first serves as the American went back in front.

The pressure was on Murray to hold his serve at a crucial moment in the opening set and he did not disappoint to keep the status quo at 5-5. Murray then set himself up perfectly to break the American's serve with three break points. But Fish pulled it back to 30-40 before the Scot seized the chance by forcing his opponent to return his shot into the net. The first set went to Murray but only after the Scot squandered a 30-0 opening advantage. However, a wild forehand smash from the American gave Murray the set 7-5.

Fish clinched the first game of the second set with an ace – his seventh of the match. Murray quickly restored parity but if he had hoped Fish would turn tail in the second set, then he was wrong as the American went back in front at 2-1. While the Scot had been invincible on his serve, the tournament favourite was way ahead in terms of points from both his first and second returns.

He levelled the scores at 2-2 and almost broke Fish's serve in the fifth game. The Scot was dominating the match and continued to wait for his chance to break the American's serve.

There was little resistance to his own service game and he took a 30-15 lead in the seventh game with a perfectly executed drop shot. A cross-court backhand earned him a break point but Fish's ninth ace of the contest left the scores at deuce. However, a poor return from Fish gave Murray another break point and this time the Dunblane man converted to go 4-3 ahead.

Murray's stunning service game put him 5-3 ahead without the American getting close to scoring. The world No3 had now delivered 11 aces. Fish looked a broken man but Murray squandered a 0-30 lead before setting-up match point with a beautiful cross-court shot that the American could not match.

Another superb cross-court volley from the Scot won him the contest 7-5, 6-3 to leave him on course to win his first grass court title.

Today's second semi-final will be an all-American affair after Andy Roddick kept his solid Queen's Club form going with a narrow 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) victory over Croatian Ivo Karlovic. Roddick will now meet James Blake, who beat Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

&#149 Maria Sharapova remains on course for a third grass-court title at Edgbaston after the former Wimbledon champion moved into the semi-finals of the Aegon Classic. Sharapova started well against Belgian opponent Yanina Wickmayer but was forced to work hard over three sets for a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 win.

The Russian hammered down seven aces as she produced a series of strong service games in a match which stretched to one hour and 45 minutes.

Sharapova will face China's Na Li in the last four today, after the latter progressed with a straight-sets victory over Stefanie Voegele.

The other semi-final will be contested between India's Sania Mirza, who ousted Melinda Czink 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), and Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova, who bettered Urszula Radwanska in straight sets to win 6-3, 6-3.