Murray relies on guile

World No 4 Andy Murray was forced to summon all his experience to stop rising star Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-final of the US$644,0000 PTT Thailand Open at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani yesterday.
At 1-2 in the first set Murray staved off three break points. In the ninth game, experience began to play a role and it was the world No 4 who took control, hitting a drop shot to break for 5-4, and one more to take the first set 6-4.
In the second set, Murray managed a break in the crucial ninth game after Dimitrov buried a forehand into the net then smashed his racquet as the score went to 5-4. Murray went on to hold serve and close out the set 6-4 for the win.
Second seed Gael Monfils of France reached his second ATP Thailand Open semi-final after ousting last year’s runner-up and crowd favourite Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-5 7-6 (7-4) in one hour and 36 minutes yesterday. The 25-year-old Parisian utilised his persistent back-court game and impressive net attacks to reach his fourth semi-final this season.
“I played better than in the first round. It was tough to move him. Then I did a few things and it was much better,’’ said the world No 9 on his return to action after almost a month on the sidelines with a knee injury.
“This morning I was a bit sore in my body. … I still had a small pain in the knee and I have to ice it [and add] a bit more protection,’’ said the Frenchman, whose early match allowed him to make a dinner date at the swanky Sirocco restaurant last night.
He lined up an encounter with American Donald Young, whom he thrashed 6-1 6-1 in Cincinnati three years ago.
“He has improved a lot. He played great a few weeks ago in the States. I expect a tough match. He’s young and has a great talent,’’ said Monfils.
After failing to move beyond qualifying in his last two attempts in Bangkok, Young is enjoying his best run here, with a semi-final berth booked thanks to yesterday’s comfortable win over Japanese qualifier Go Soeda, 6-1 6-2 in just 55 minutes
“I took him out of his game a little bit. He didn’t play his best. I played well so I got to move on to the semi-finals,’’ said Young, 22, on a mission for his debut ATP final appearance, having reached the last four in Washington last month for his best result so far.
“Playing Gael is definitely tough. He gets a lot of balls back. He’s in the top 10. He beat me pretty bad the last time we played,’’ said Young, who started training this week with new coach Michael Sell, former coach of the great Monica Seles.
“When I was younger he worked with my age group in 1999. It’s good to have him on board,” added the 22-year-old.
In their doubles quarter-final, Michael Kholmann and Alexander Waske of Germany upset second seed Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich of Israel 2-6 6-4 10-7, while the semi-finals saw top duo Oliver Marach of Austria and Asiam-Ul-Qureshi of Pakistan topple Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-1.