Andy Murray kept on track to claim a record fifth title at Queen’s Club by beating fellow Briton Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Meanwhile, American John Isner fired 43 aces and held 10 match points, but failed to overcome Gilles Muller of Luxembourg as he slumped to a 3-6, 7-6 (18/16), 7-6 (9/7) defeat.
Murray faced a break point in the opening game, but then broke to lead 5-3 and served out the set. Murray maintained the pressure in the second set, and despite failing to convert four break points to lead 1-0 and dropping his own serve after breaking for 2-1, a further break for 4-3 proved decisive.
Photo: EPA
“I thought it was okay,” Murray said of the match. “It was a lot more longer rallies than the first match, so yeah, it was quite different. I have never played against him before. I have not seen him play loads on grass, either. That’s never easy.”
Murray’s next opponent will be another countryman, Kyle Edmund, who received a walkover when Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu withdrew with a wrist injury.
Isner seemed to be set for victory against Muller, holding six match points in the second set tiebreaker before Muller leveled the match on his fifth set point. In the final set, the American held off five break points as the set moved to another tiebreaker, but then failed to capitalize on a further four match points.
The second-set tiebreaker featured the longest singles main draw tiebreaker at Queen’s Club since Goran Ivanisevic beat Greg Rusedski 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (20/18) in the 1997 semi-finals, and Muller is the first player to win an ATP Tour match after saving 10 match points since Rainer Schuettler beat Andreas Seppi in Kitzbuehel in 2004.
Third-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic also advanced by defeating Czech Jiri Vesely 7-5, 7-6 (8/6), and Australian Bernard Tomic overcame Fernado Verdasco of Spain 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-4. The match between sixth-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and American Donald Young was suspended overnight due to rain with Bautista Agut leading 6-4.
GERRY WEBER OPEN
Reuters
Roger Federer hurried into the quarter-finals of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle on Thursday, wrapping up a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri in 69 minutes.
The top seed, who has won eight titles at the German grasscourt tournament that has proved ideal preparation for Wimbledon during his long career, quickly overcame a second-set hiccup when he dropped his serve to go 3-0 down.
He rediscovered his rhythm, recovered the deficit and then broke the Tunisian in the 11th game before serving out the match.
Federer next meets Belgian David Goffin, who was leading Sergiy Stakhovsky 4-6, 7-5, 2-0 when the Ukranian retired hurt after an awkward fall.
“That’s life… Some days are just not meant to be. I’ll try to be back for Wimbledon,” Stakhovsky tweeted.
Federer, 34, will be keen to enjoy as much match practice as possible before Wimbledon after pulling out of the French Open last month with a back injury.
He leads 25-year-old fifth seed Goffin 4-0 in their head-to-head tally.
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