TENNIS – Andy Murray rallied from a set down to overcome Gilles Muller with 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 at the Aegon Championshps at the Queen’s Club in London. Murray had to fight hard until the tie-break of the second set before taking control of the match in the third set. Diego Sampaolo
Thirty-two-year-old Muller converted his chance to break serve for 3-1 in the first set en route to closing it out with 6-3 after 32 minutes with a series of serves and groundstrokes. The player from Luxemburg saved a break point in the second set which came down to the tie-break with no break points. The match changed in the tie-break where Murray got an early mini-break with a forehand down the line.
Murray got an early break with a forehand down the line to clinch the decisive set after 1 hour and 56 minutes. Murray fired 13 aces to Muller’s 8.
“He started well and I didn’t quite know what to do on the return game. When I started to return better, he seemed more anxious to come into the net and I was able to get myself into the rallies. It’s a good win for me. I started to read his serve a bit better at the end of the tie-break and that was when the match changed”, said Murray
In the semifinal Murray will face Viktor Troicki who beat John Isner 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 in on hour and 12 minutes. Troicki cpmverted on one of his 11 break points and did not face any break points. Isner had to save three break points in the first set before losimg the tie-break with 8-6. In the second set Isner saved seven break points before Troicki converted on his 8th break point chance in the 8th game for 5-3.
Murray won their previous match in the Vienna semifinal last year
Kevin Anderson edged Guillermo Garcia Lopez 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 after a very tight match in the first quarter final The match was decided by just a few points. The first set came down to the tie-break without a single break. Garcia Lopez got the mini-break but Anderson broke back at 5-3 with a volley backhand and earned a set point at 6-5. Garcia Lopez saved the set point and took the 7-6 lead. Anderson drew level with a service winner. Anderson earned a second set point before closing out the set with a forehand volley.
In the first game of the second set Garcia Lopez brought up his only two break points of the match but Anderson saved them with a forehand volley and a service winner. Anderson earned two match points on Garcia Lopez’s serve at 6-5. The South African player converted his first match point to wrap up the match after 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Anderson will take on Gilles Simon who fought back from a set down to knock out Milos Raonic with 4-6 6-3 7-5 and reach his third semifinal of the year. Raonic got the only break of the first set at 1-1 en route to winning the first set with 6-4. Simon saved three break points at 2-2 in a 12-minute fifth game of the second set before breaking serve for 4-2. The third set went on serve until 5-5 when Simon got the break. He closed out the match on the fifth match point after 2 hours and 18 minutes.
