Straight set win comes as a relief for Murray
ANDY MURRAY spoke of his relief at avoiding another nail-biting five-setter after securing his place in the last four for the first time with a straight sets victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The third seed took just one hour, 41 minutes to post a 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the former world No1 – a far cry from his four-hour epic with Stanislas Wawrinka under the Centre Court roof on Monday night.
“I’m very happy to come through in straight sets because I had a long one the round before,” the Scot explained. “To get to the semi-finals for the first time is nice and I’ll try my best to go further.
“There were quite a lot of errors from both of us at the start. I served very well but from the back of the court it was very, very hot out there today and quick, so there were quite a few mistakes early in the match.
“Once I got the first set I started to settle down and I returned great at the end.”
Victory sees Murray become the first Brit to reach the last four since Tim Henman in 2002, but the world No3 has his sights set even higher and become the first British men’s singles champion since Fred Perry back in 1936.
“A semi-final is something I’ve not experienced here before,” Murray continued. “But at the US Open last year I played a semi-final against the number one in the world Rafael Nadal. I’m going to have a tough match but I feel like I can win if I play well.”
ORDER OF PLAY DAY TEN
CENTRE COURT (1pm start)
E Dementieva (4) v S Williams (2)
D Safina (1) v V Williams (3)