Murray advances to ATP Challenger semis in France, plays lucky loser Mayot for place in the final
Top seed Tommy Paul will meet former top 10 player David Goffin in the other semi-final
Former world No 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray is through to the semi-finals of this week’s Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole, an ATP Challenger event in France, after a straight sets win over rising French teen Luca Van Assche.
Murray, who went winless in Monte-Carlo and Madrid, saved two set points in the second set tiebreaker to complete the 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) win in straight sets and set up a semi-final clash against another French player, Harold Mayot.
Mayot, a lucky loser this week, defeated sixth seed Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-1 in another quarter-final.
“It was a very tough end to the match, it could’ve gone either way,” Murray said as quoted by the ATP website. “Had it gone to a third set, it would’ve been tough for me, after a long match yesterday. I just managed to get over the line in the end. I did quite well considering I recovered well from yesterday, which is really positive.”
Top seed Tommy Paul and David Goffin will clash in the other semi-final. Paul, ranked No 17 in the world, scored a 6-4, 6-2 win over Austria’s Jurij Rodionov while Goffin, a former top 10 player now ranked 95th in the world, scored a 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win over France’s Arthur Fils.