Murray comes through double-header
Andy Murray is looking to build his confidence on clay ahead of next month's French Open
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Friday, 17, Apr 2009 10:33
Andy Murray has reached the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters after beating Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7/1) 6-4 in his second match of the day.
Having beaten Fabio Fognini 7-6 6-4 earlier in the day in a rain-affected match, the Scot fought back from 4-1 down against Davydenko to clinch victory.
Britain's number one will meet world number one Rafael Nadal in Saturday's semi-final.
And the fourth seed will need to improve to beat Nadal after a stuttering display to see off Davydenko.
The first set was a tight affair before Murray forced the Russian into making a host of unforced errors in the eventual tie-break.
Murray lost his first service game of the second set but hit back with a break of his own, after the veteran made more mistakes on his forehand.
But the Dunblane teenager was broken again to trail 3-1 after his drop shop drifted wide on break point. He responded well again and broke Davydenko again in game six with some patient rallying from the back of the court.
The 21-year-old squandered two break points in Davydenko's next service game before his opponent sent two routine backhands into the net to gift Murray a vital break.
Davydenko took Murray to deuce in game ten but fired two forehands long to give the Briton victory and seal his place in the last four.
Murray said he picked up a minor hand injury but will be ready for the clash with Nadal.
"It's just a couple of blisters. I've got new rackets for the clay court season and the grips are a bit different," he said.
He added: "There'll be a lot of expectation on me but it's great experience for me to learn a lot from playing the top guys. I will learn a lot about how they play on clay."
Nadal, 22, reached the semis with a 6-3 6-3 win over Ivan Ljubicic, just hours after beating Nicolas Lapentti 6-3 6-0.