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6 November 2009
Verdasco earns crack at Murray
Top seed Andy Murray will meet home hope Fernando Verdasco in the semi-final of the Valencia Open 500.
The British number one was inconsistent in the first set but improved to secure a 6-4 6-2 success over Albert Montanes in 74 minutes.
After opening with a break of serve, the world number four relinquished the advantage in the sixth game after firing a backhand wide.
But he took the upper hand again three games later with a perfect backhand drop shot and served out courtesy of an emphatic ace down the middle.
Murray was a class above in the second set and broke twice in succession to move into a 4-0 lead.
The Spaniard stopped the rot in the fifth game and he created a break chance for himself with Murray serving for the match at 5-2 but some big serving and a pinpoint forehand sent the Scot into the late four.
Verdasco beat fellow countryman Tommy Robredo in equally comfortable fashion, triumphing 6-3 6-2.
The fourth seed was never broken - Robredo creating just two chances to do so - and punished his opponent's second serve to win three receiving games himself.
Verdasco is the only Spanish player remaining in the competition after second seed Nikolay Davydenko ended the hopes of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straight sets.
A solitary break saw the Russian claim the opening set 6-4, while a topsy-turvy second went into a tie-break after two breaks apiece.
Davydenko prevailed 7-3 in the breaker to set up a clash with compatriot Mikhail Youzhny, who upset fifth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4 6-4.
A solitary break in each set was enough to account for the wasteful Simon, who squandered 11 break points over the course of the one-hour, 36-minute encounter.
