Andy Murray downed David Goffin 6-2 6-2 on Friday to reach the semi-finals at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
The scotsman used his killer instinct in the sixth and eighth game of each set to win a brutal match in 1 hour and 35 minutes. Murray won 90% of his first serve points, as he dictated play throughout the match to seal a convincing win. Meanwhile Goffin failed to take his opportunities as he couldn’t convert any of his five break point chances. It is the fifth consecutive meeting where Murray has not dropped a set against the Belgian.
After the match, Murray denied the match was easy after racing to his sixth Masters 1000 semifinal of the season, “There was a lot of long games and tight games where Goffin had chances on my serve but also on his own serve, There was a lot of long rallies, good rallies.”
Murray will now play Gilles Simon next, who beat Jack Sock 4-6 6-4 7-6(5). Despite the result, it was the American who raced to a blistering start by taking a 4-1 lead at the start of the first set. Despite Simon breaking back straight away, Sock held on to take the first set 6-4.
There were five breaks of serve in the second set, with the decisive break coming in the tenth game where the Frenchman broke to love to level the match. At one set a piece, the decider saw both men match each other game by game as the proceedings went into a crucial tiebreaker. Surviving the first set onslaught, Simon held his nerve to close out the match after two hours and 40 minutes of play. The marathon victory has elevated Simon to only his second ATP semifinal of the season.
Simon and Murray will meet for the 16th time on Saturday, with the Scotsman winning 14 of those meetings. Their last meeting was in Madrid this year, which Murray won 6-4 6-2.
