• Australian Open, Day Ten

Murray beats 'different' Dolgopolov to reach semis

ESPN will be providing extensive coverage of the Australian Open, with live scores, commentary and analysis and you can follow it all with our live scorecentre

Australian Open women's round-up:
Clijsters and Zvonareva set up semi

Andy Murray had to rely on consistency and composure to see off an erratic Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5 6-3 6-7 6-3 and reach the Australian Open semi-finals.

Dolgopolov provided by far the toughest test Murray has faced in the tournament to date. At his best, the young Ukrainian was far too good for the fifth seed, but too often he was at the other end of the scale, missing simple overhead smashes and making baffling decisions on court.

Dolgopolov's unique style of tennis, swaying from inspired to insipid and back again within single games, made it impossible for Murray to get a dominant foothold in the match. Instead he had to fall back on a solid game, chase down balls and wait for Dolgopolov to make the mistakes that eventually became his undoing.

The first set was a microcosm of the match. Dolgopolov produced some quality hitting to match any on show in Melbourne, particularly with his unorthodox flat two-handed backhand across court. He aced Murray more than most players would hope to and he also produced everything in between. But all his good work was undone by two missed overheads, the first up break point in the opening game of the match and the second up break point with a tie-break beckoning.

Dolgopolov produced the odd piece of brilliance but he largely went cold for the second set as Murray gained control, creating some highlights with a pair of well-measured lobs. But one felt Dolgopolov had one more burst in him and he produced that in the third set, frustrating Murray will some unpredictable shot selection. Murray lost his cool momentarily in the tie-break, missing two regulation forehands and double faulting to drop his first set of the tournament.

That was the end of the resistance as Murray comfortably came home in the fourth set but he was largely relieved just to get the result he needed against an opponent so awkward and unusual that a good performance was almost impossible to produce.

Murray said on court after the match: "It was very tough. Every point is different. He just hits the ball different to everyone else. It's tough to explain. I struggled a little bit with my rhythm early on and he came back well in the third set. I thought I did well, I don't know!

"I had to go for my shots a little bit more in the fourth set. In the tie-break I was a little bit tentative, I hit a double fault and missed two easy forehands. But I got off to a good start (in the fourth set) and that settled me down. But it was a really tough match."

Murray will face the winner of Wednesday night's all-Spanish quarter final between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer in his semi-final.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.