Qatar Open: Murray moves into semi-finals after another comeback

Wild card Andy Murray won against French qualifier Alexandre Muller 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals of the Qatar Open at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha on Thursday.

Murray, ranked No 70, will play Czech Jiri Lehecka next, in what will be his 102nd tour-level semi-final – his first since Stuttgart in June last year (where he won that match against Nick Kyrgios and went on to lose to Matteo Berrettini in the final).

Muller did make a very bright start, looking comfortable on the big occasion – his first career ATP Tour quarter-final.

But Murray seemed to simply reset after a troublesome first set, opening up his bag of tricks and leaving the Frenchman bamboozled.

“I had to start going for my shots much more,” Murray said on court afterwards. “The first set, I wasn’t doing enough with the ball. He was dictating a lot of the points and making me do a lot of running…I’ve played a lot of tennis the last few days. That wasn’t going to give me the best chance to win the match.

“I stepped up, started taking a few more chances, tried to come to the net when I got the opportunity, and managed to turn it round.”

Murray: I knew it would be a tough match

He also had some words of praise for his opponent, adding: “He had an excellent tournament coming through qualifying, he’s had some good wins over the years…I knew it was going to be a tough match.”

Murray edged out Italian Lorenzo Sonego (4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4)) and German Alexander Zverev, the No 4 seed (7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5) in the previous rounds of the Doha Open.

Earlier in the tournament, Muller, ranked No 170, edged out Georgian lucky loser Nikoloz Basilashvili (7-6 (3), 6-7 (8), 6-4) and defeated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, the No 8 seed (6-2, 6-4).

Doha ATP250, other last eight results (Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, hard, USD 1.377.025, most recent results first):

• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Christopher O’Connell vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Jiri Lehecka beat Andrey Rublev (1): 4-6, 6-4, 6-3

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