• Wimbledon, Day Nine

Dominant Murray strides into the semi-finals

Andy Murray was in inspired form against Feliciano Lopez © Getty Images

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Andy Murray's dreams of winning a first grand slam title at Wimbledon are still alive after he produced an excellent performance to despatch Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 6-4 and set up a mouthwatering semi-final against world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

With the Centre Court crowd still reeling from Roger Federer's shock defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Murray and his opponent walked onto a near empty arena and, consequently, the match took a while to spark into life.

Chances were at a premium as both players held serve with aplomb in the early stages, before the first half-chance of the afternoon fell to Lopez. Murray briefly lost his way for 30-30 but responded well to stamp out the danger and hold serve.

As Lopez saw his opening firmly closed, Murray was presented with his own opportunity in the following game. He looked certain to break when racing to 0-30, only to hand the initiative back to his opponent by firing wide. Just when Lopez looked in control, Murray raised his level to set up his first break point of the match. The Spaniard kept the game alive with a mighty second serve but Murray wasn't to be denied, claiming the break when Lopez surprisingly netted.

A fifth ace at 40-0 saw Murray head to his chair holding a 5-2 lead and the first set firmly in his grasp. Murray should have wrapped it up when he had Lopez on the ropes in the next game, but the Scot wasted three set points. The inevitable was merely only delayed, however, as the world No. 4 made no mistake on serve, wrapping up a comfortable opening set, despite only landing 50% of his first serves.

Lopez appeared more settled at the start of the second, regularly serve and volleying to good effect and, although Murray earned another break-point in the third game, the world No. 44 refused to buckle. Lopez, on a nine-match losing streak against top five players, failed to threaten the Murray serve, however, and the Spaniard was back tossing the ball up within the blink of an eye.

The pressure finally told as Lopez surrendered another break after turning his forehand volley into the net. Leading 4-2, Murray cruised through the remainder of the set, sealing it when Lopez misdirected a forehand.

Lopez's best period of the match coincided with Murray getting injured at the beginning of the third set. Murray appeared to twist awkwardly as he ran for a return, hurting his hip in the process. Perhaps sensing his opponent was wounded; Lopez became more pro-active, forcing the issue with better movement and more purposeful groundstrokes. Still, Murray held off his charge, managing to hold serve for 2-2.

A forehand winner down the line, hit off balance, brought Murray another break point and he repeated the trick, this time going cross court, to go 3-2 in front. The Brit, who entered the match with a perfect 4-0 record against Lopez, survived two break points in game eight and went on to close out an emphatic victory, finishing things off with his 13th ace of the contest.

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