Highlights - Murray 'fries' Fish Andy Murray continued his bid for a maiden grass-court title with victory over Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals of the Aegon Championships at Queen's. The 22-year-old top seed beat his American opponent 7-5 6-3 and will meet Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semi-finals. British number one Murray broke the Fish serve three times and wrapped up his win in one hour and 10 minutes. Andy Roddick overcame Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) and will face fellow American James Blake in the semi-final. Blake saw off Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in Friday's final match at Queen's. Roddick, winner four times at Queens, reached the semi-finals for the seventh successive year with his victory over fellow ace machine Karlovic. The American came up short in the ace count - firing two fewer than Karlovic's 26 - but triumphed in two tie-breaks. Murray happy with 'very good' form In a match which Roddick admitted would be like "watching paint dry for both of us", 12 games were decided by aces alone. Ferrero, the former world number one now ranked 90th, reached his first semi-final on grass with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 win over Steve Darcis of Belgium. Murray, also through to his first semi-final on grass, was impressed by the Spaniard's performance. "I saw some of the match on the TV and he was hitting the ball very well from the baseline," said the 22-year-old. "If I serve well I've got a chance like anybody does on grass. I need to make sure that the rest of my game is solid on Saturday. There will be a lot more rallies." Murray and Ferrero have never met before but, if he continues to perform at the level he has done all week, the Scot should have few problems reaching the final. In an near-faultless performance against Fish, he sent down 11 aces to his opponent's nine, made 69% of first serves and won 30 of 31 (97%) points contested on his first serve. "I did serve very well and even when I did miss my first serve, I didn't feel like I was letting him into a rhythm on the return," said Murray. "I returned well towards the end of the first set. From then on, I played much better. "I've been asked a lot of times about playing more aggressive or taking more chances, but I think on this surface, if I serve like that and play solid from the baseline, I can win matches quickly."  | 606: DEBATE |
Murray, bidding to become the first British champion at Queen's since Bunny Austin in 1938, went 0-30 up in game one before Fish, ranked number 25 in the world, fought back to hold serve with an ace. But the tournament favourite produced a stunning array of aces to level the scores at 1-1 and the players exchanged service holds until game 11. Murray set up the break by racing to 0-40, in part with an outstanding cross-court backhand passing shot and then an even better version off the forehand side. Fish pulled it back to 30-40 before Murray seized the chance by forcing the big-serving right-hander to net. A wild forehand smash from Fish gave Murray the opening set and the Briton continued to dominate in the second. Murray seemed content to wait for his chance to pounce and that arrived in game seven when he took his second break point of the game with a powerful backhand return. A ruthless service game put Murray 5-3 ahead and the Scot then broke with a cross-court volley to seal his passage to the last four.
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