Andy Murray reached the semi-finals of the AEGON Championship for the first time with a straight sets victory over Mardy Fish at Queen's Club yesterday. Murray's 7-5, 6-3 win over the American set up a semi-final against Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in London today. Murray, who is bidding to become the first British champion of the tournament since Bunny Austin in 1938, said: "I had a few really good passing shots at 5-5 [in the first set] and managed to break and, when I did, I felt much better.
"Mardy is a very, very good grasscourt player and tries to put a lot of pressure and I knew it would be a good test." The Wimbledon committee's decision to hand Ferrero a wild-card for The Championships was justified when he reached the last four of a grasscourt event for the first time. He beat the Belgian Steve Darcis 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Now ranked 90th in the world, the Spaniard had not dropped a set until yesterday.
He said: "To play here in his country on grass, everything is difficult. But I'm feeling great, and I just want to be focused on myself and my game, be aggressive and try to enjoy. I know that Andy's playing amazing. He's No 3 in the world, so it's always going to be tough to beat him." Maria Sharapova reached the semi-finals of the women's AEGON Classic in Birmingham after beating Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. The 2004 Wimbledon champion won in three sets, taking the decider 6-3.
akunawicz@thenational.ae
