ANDY Murray kept his cool on the hottest day of the championships so far yesterday to claim a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time in his career.
He beat former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in straight sets – 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 – in a performance which saw him back to his convincing best after the faltering start he had made in his previous match against Stanislas Wawrinka.
As it happened: Andy Murray v Juan Carlos Ferrero•
In pictures: Andy Murray v Juan Carlos FerreroAlthough he was understandably pleased with his overall standard, Murray, the No 3 seed, pointed out flaws in his game, and again said he was taking nothing for granted. "I thought the second and third sets were very good," he said after a match which, at an hour and 41 minutes, was less than half the length of his battle in the previous round.
"The first set I served very well but made quite a lot of mistakes. I'm obviously happy to win in straight sets, because the first set was tough. But I settled down after that.
"I understand that I can lose the next match if I don't play my best," he went on. "That's been one of the things that I've learned, and it's made a huge difference to me over the last year or so."
Murray's opponent in tomorrow's semi-final will be Andy Roddick. The No 6 seed from the USA beat Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, in a gruelling five-set match on No 1 court.
Speaking before that result was known, Murray added that he knew he could not afford to let his standards slip against either opponent, never mind who he might meet in the final. "I realise that if I don't bring my best game then I'm going to lose to guys like Hewitt or Roddick. I feel confident, because I've won a lot of matches on the grass.
"But every day when I get up to play the matches, I know that I'm going to have to perform very well, and that gets the nerves and the adrenalin going and makes me play better."
Murray is arguably playing the best tennis of his career at the moment, and if he wins his next two matches to claim his first grand slam title at the age of 22 there will no longer be any argument about it. So far, though, he is unwilling to assert that his performances over the first five rounds here have been markedly superior to the way he has been playing over the best part of the last year.
"Since Wimbledon last year my consistency has been very, very good. Bar one very poor match at the Olympics, I've not really lost any early matches, not lost to too many guys that I should have won against, and, you know, performed well in the slams."
In the other semi-final, five-time former champion Roger Federer faces Tommy Haas of Germany. Federer, the No 2 seed, will set a record of 15 grand slam titles if he wins on Sunday, and has already established a record of 21 consecutive slam semi- finals. Asked what made the Swiss player so special, Murray was in no doubt.
"The consistency, right there, in the big tournaments is ridiculous," he replied. "No one will ever match that, I don't think. The consistency is the one thing. I mean, I don't think it's been surprising that once he won a few slams, everyone was saying that he could be the best ever. But just to have no slip-ups, to have no injuries – maybe he has, but covered that well – to not be really sick or to miss one event, one slam, through injury, it's pretty incredible."
Federer beat Ivo Karlovic in straight sets in the first match of the day on Centre Court, while Haas knocked out Novak Djokovic, the No 4 seed. In the mixed doubles, Andy's brother Jamie and his partner Liezel won their third-round match. As their scheduled opponents in the quarter-finals scratched, they are also now through to the last four of their event.
Today the attention reverts to the women's singles, which are also at the semi-final stage. Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva are first on Centre Court this afternoon, to be followed by Serena's older sister Venus and Dinara Safina.
The full article contains 754 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
