Murray overcomes tough test to reach semis
Andy Murray has already booked his place for next month's season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai
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Friday, 24, Oct 2008 10:39
Andy Murray overcame a battling performance from Janko Tipsarevic to win 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 and reach the semi-finals of the St Petersburg Open.
Britain's number one remains on course for his fifth title of the year after squeezing past the Serb to set-up a clash with third seed Fernando Verdasco in the semis.
The 21-year-old made an explosive start with two aces in his opening game before breaking Tipsarevic to lead 3-0.
But reigning champion Murray was broken in the next game as the opening set went into a tie-break.
With the score at 5-5, the Scot claimed a mini-break and sealed the set on his serve.
The second set followed a similar pattern with the top seed earning an early break to lead 2-1 after a stunning crosscourt backhand.
But Tipsarevic hit back straightaway with another break to level the scores and then held his serve to lead 4-3.
With the set heading towards another tie-break, Murray broke serve and held his nerve to clinch victory.
In the other quarter-finals, Verdasco set-up a clash with Murray after defeating Germany's Rainer Schuettler 7-5 6-2.
Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan beat Germany's Mischa Zverev 6-7 6-4 7-6 and will play Victor Hanescu is the semis after the Romanian eased saw off Michail Elgin 6-1 6-4.