Murray beats Goffin to reach Rome semis
Britain’s Andy Murray reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open with a 6-1 7-5 win over Belgium’s David Goffin.
The second seed lost his first service game to love but then won six games in a row to take the first set.
Goffin, who beat Tomas Berdych 6-0 6-0 on Thursday, challenged Murray in the second set, but the Scot battled through on a windy day in Rome.
Murray, 28, will face Lucas Pouille in the last four after the Frenchman’s opponent Juan Monaco withdrew.
Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic meet later in another quarter-final tie.
- Latest score: Djokovic v Nadal quarter-final
Murray holds off Goffin fightback
Murray, after dominating the first set, had to dig deep in a fluctuating second set as both players struggled to hold serve.
Goffin, the world number 13, broke serve in the fourth game to lead 3-1, in the eight game when Murray twice double-faulted, and again when Murray was serving for the match at 5-4.
But Murray kept breaking back and won a nine-minute 11th game to set up another chance to serve for victory.
Murray, who has yet to drop a set in Rome this year, completed the job to reach his second Italian Open semi-final after one hour and 34 minutes on court.
Lucky loser Pouille set for Murray semi-final
Pouille’s walkover win against the injured Monaco was the second time he has advanced in the tournament without hitting a ball.
After falling in the final round of qualifying, the 22-year-old Frenchman was granted a place in the main draw when countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew.
The world number 52 beat Ernests Gulbis in the second round and reached his first ATP Masters quarter-final by ousting ninth seed David Ferrer 6-4 6-1.
Bryan brothers deny Murray ranking rise
Jamie Murray’s hopes of regaining the number one doubles ranking he lost last week ended – for now at least – with defeat in Rome.
A win would have taken the Scot back to the top of the rankings but he and Brazil’s Bruno Soares were seen off with little fuss by the formidable Bryan brothers.
The Americans won 6-3 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals.
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