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Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych will meet again in a tournament semifinal when they take to the Miami Open courts on Friday. The third-seeded Murray and eighth-seeded Berdych each won their respective quarterfinal bouts on Wednesday to set up a rematch of the Australian Open semifinals in January.
Murray was first on court as he battled with 21-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem in the afternoon session. The Scot was coming off of his 500th career match win in a fourth-victory over Kevin Anderson, and received a strong test from the unseeded Thiem.
The Austrian broke Murray in the first set for the lone break point of the frame, allowing him to take the first set 6-3. With his back against the wall, Murray responded to take a 4-1 lead in the second set, eventually finishing it off 6-4.
Murray carried that momentum into the deciding frame. He was dominant on serve, winning 16 of 19 service points, and picked up two break points to cruise in the final set and advance with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory.
“I expected a tough match. He’s beaten some very good players this week already,” said Murray of Thiem. “When you let him dictate the points, he hits the ball as hard off each side as anyone. I think in the third set the difference was really my returning. I returned his first serve extremely well. I put him on the back foot. When I was returning the first serve well, I was able to dictate points.”
Murray will meet Berdych in the semifinals, a rematch of the Australian Open semifinals earlier in the year, a match that was won by Murray. Berdych ousted unseeded Juan Monaco on Wednesday night, beating the Argentine 6-3, 6-4 to push through.
The eighth-seeded Berdych notched a key break towards the end of the first set to take the opener, and then broke at 4-4 in the second set to move past Monaco.
“He was playing really well,” said Berdych. “I managed to find situations, to create opportunities, and I executed them. I’m really pleased with that. There were a couple of long, tough rallies. The conditions were not easy. So there were a couple of challenges I needed to face, but I managed them all and went through.”
Berdych leads the all-time head to head series against Murray 6-5.
The other men’s semifinal in Miami will be decided today, as fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori will tangle with 18th-seeded American John Isner and top-seeded Novak Djokovic will take on the seventh-seeded David Ferrer in quarterfinal matchups.
On the women’s side, third-seed Simona Halep ousted American Sloane Stephens 6-1, 7-5 to set up a semifinal clash with Serena Williams, who defeated Sabine Lisicki earlier in the day. The other women’s semifinal will pit 12th seed Carla Suarez-Navarro against ninth-seeded Andrea Petkovic.
