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Top seed Murray on course for Thailand title

Andy Murray returns the ball to Grigor Dimitrov © PA Photos

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Andy Murray stayed on course for his third title of the season after beating Grigor Dimitrov for the first time at the Thailand Open on Friday.

The Scot, who had never played the talented 20-year-old before, preyed on his opponent's momentarily lapses in concentration to come through 6-4 6-4.

Dimitrov showed why many people believe he has a bright future with some fearless hitting in the early stages. Unfortunately for the Bulgarian, Murray kept pace and forced the break with some typically extravagant winners, before closing out the set by holding to love.

The pair shared the first eight games in the second set but, once again, at the business end of the set Dimitrov's inexperience told as a double fault let Murray in. Eyeing an opening, the world No. 4 capitalised and another unforced error from his opponent handed him the crucial break.

Murray will now face Gilles Simon in the semi-final after the Frenchman fought back to beat Germany's Matthias Bachinger 3-6 6-3 6-2.

Second seed Gael Monfils progressed after battling past last year's runner-up Jarkko Nieminen 7-5 7-6(4). Monfils, bidding to claim one of the four remaining qualifying spots for the ATP World Tour Finals in November, was broken twice in the opening set but three breaks of his own gave him the upper hand.

Neither player could penetrate serve in the second set, with Monfils, who is playing his first event since the US Open, raising his level in the ensuing tiebreak to seal his victory. "I think I played better," the Frenchman said. "I'm a bit sore after all the matches, but it's good to be back on tour. Jarkko played very strong and it was tough to move him and impose my game."

Monfils goes on to face Donald Young, who will move into the top 50 of the world rankings after booking his place in the last four with victory over Japanese qualifier Go Soeda. Young, 22, was dominant on serve, only dropping eight points, and converted half of his eight break points en route to a comfortable 6-1 6-2 triumph.

At the Malaysian Open, meanwhile, world No. 15 Viktor Troicki reached his first ATP Tour semi-final since February, beating Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-4 in Kuala Lumpur. Marcos Baghdatis awaits, the Cypriot battling past Jurgen Melzer 6-3 7-6(3).

There was a shock as No. 1 seed Nicolas Almagro lost in three sets to Japan's Kei Nishikori, while Janko Tipsarevic made his way into the last four after opponent Nikolay Davydenko was forced to retire only four games into their encounter.

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