Andy Murray is through to the semi-finals of Wimbledon after a 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero.
In many ways it was a strange match. Murray started out looking sluggish, perhaps still hungover from Monday's epic encounter with Stanislas Wawrinka. His movement was laboured and he was committing a catalogue of unforced errors. Fortunately for Murray and bizarrely, both in equal measures, he was serving out of a tree. Ferrero could scarcely win a point on the Murray serve in the opening set.
The World Number 3 was a constant factor in the Spaniard's service games, yet he continued to falter at the crucial moments. Ferrero, a former World Number 1 and French Open champion, was hanging on by the skin of his teeth, and it wasn't until 6-5 that Murray was able to finally make the breakthrough. The home favourite scored with a couple of stinging returns, but it was Ferrero who ended up donating the break and the set with a double fault on set point.
Read more (247 words)Having bagged the opening set, Murray allowed himself to relax briefly. He threw in a string of unforced errors in the opening game of the second set, tamely handing the Spaniard the break. Buoyed by this, the former World Number 1 raised his level. For a while Ferrero looked destined to square the match. The British Number 1 caught himself just in time, though. He suddenly found his baseline game and began to hit his groundstrokes with authority. The Ferrero forehand, considered one of the biggest in the game a few years ago, look positively junior by comparison. Murray was now in full flow, playing some of his best tennis of the entire fortnight. At one point the Scot won 20 out of 21 points, using a mixture of power and guile. He won 5 games on the spin to take the second set.
There was no hint of a dip in the 3rd set. Some of Murray's tennis, particular towards the end of the match, was astounding. The Spaniard may as well have been throwing in second serves. The Scot was crushing everything and playing with abandon. The game at 4-2 was a joy to behold, as Murray stepped into a succession of returns and bulleted them at the feet of Ferrero. The Spaniard had no answer and soon found himself at the net for the handshake.
Murray goes on to the Semi-Finals on Friday where he will face Andy Roddick.
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