Andy Murray is through to Sunday's final after a straight-sets victory in Surbiton; Katie Swan secured her place in the women's final, but Katie Boulter's hopes of an all-British showdown were ended by defeat to veteran Yanina Wickmayer.
Saturday 10 June 2023 18:31, UK
Andy Murray battled past defending champion Jordan Thompson 7-6 (5) 6-3 to book his place in the final of the Lexus Surbiton Trophy.
Two-time former Wimbledon champion Murray - who has taken a wildcard entry for next week's Rothesay Open Nottingham - looked in control of the first set when, helped by a fine backhand volley, he moved into a 3-0 lead.
Australian Thompson, though, regrouped to capitalise on some unforced errors by Murray to break back and then level the match at 3-3. Murray then held to love to leave Thompson serving to stay in the set, which he eventually did after fending off a fightback having been 40-15 ahead.
Murray faced more pressure in an important hold at 6-5 and Thompson then held to love to force a tie-break, where the Scot took a 2-0 lead with an early mini-break and moved 4-1 up before Thompson broke back to level at 4-4 after a length rally.
As in previous matches, Murray again gave himself a stern talking-to, which helped bring up a set point at 6-5 when Thompson returned into the net and he took advantage by firing down an ace.
There was a flashpoint during a close opening game of the second set. With the scores at deuce, Thompson became frustrated after a call of 'out' which came from the crowd, so was overruled by the chair umpire and play went on as Murray took the point.
The Australian continued his complaints to umpire Robert Balmforth as then players sat under umbrellas during a brief rain break. When play resumed - with a warning to the crowd against further such outbursts - Murray eventually forced home the break and held to lead 2-0.
Murray broke in the fifth game to move 4-1 ahead when Thompson sank another return into the net - and the Australian then got a warning for ball abuse as his frustrations boiled over again.
A love service game moved Murray to the brink of victory but Thompson broke in the eighth game. Murray, though, eventually got the job done when taking a third match point chance to seal a place in Sunday's final, against either Austrian Jurij Rodionov or Belgium's Zizou Bergs.
"It was nice to get through in straight sets today," Murray said in his court-side interview broadcast by the LTA. "It was a very tight first set then in the second I improved a bit, started hitting the ball a bit better in the back of the court, so hopefully I can continue that tomorrow in the final.
"Jordan is a top grass-court player. He won here last year and made the finals in Nottingham, so he has had some good wins on this surface. I expected a tough one - I definitely got that. The last couple of matches have been good, against very good grass-court players, very experienced on this surface, so to come through them is very positive.
"To get the opportunity to play in the final tomorrow is great, I am looking forward to it. It has been a while since I won a tournament on home soil and hopefully I can do that tomorrow."
Katie Swan secured her place in the final of the Lexus Surbiton Trophy, but Katie Boulter's hopes of an all-British showdown were ended by defeat to veteran Belgian Yanina Wickmayer.
Swan was in determined mood for Saturday's opening match on Centre Court as she completed an impressive 6-1 6-0 victory over British No 7 Lily Miyazaki in just over an hour.
The 24-year-old, who had knocked out first seed Tatjana Maria in the last round, built on an early break to swiftly open up a 5-0 lead before closing out the opening set. It remained one-way traffic in the second as she kept the pressure on Miyazaki's serve with three straight breaks.
Miyazaki looked like she would break back in the sixth game, but Swan - who can secure the British No 1 spot by going on to win the title - twice recovered to level at deuce before clinching the match when a return went into the net.
"Today was probably one of the best matches I've played in my career - it was near perfect," Swan said in her court-side interview broadcast by the LTA. "I am really happy that I was able to produce that and I can't wait to play in the final tomorrow."
Boulter was in pole position to go on and cement her place as British No 1, but Wickmayer proved too strong as the 33-year-old closed out a 6-3 6-2 win.
The opening set remained on serve with no break opportunities until the eighth game when Wickmayer capitalised on some wayward returns from Boulter to take a decisive lead and then close things out 6-3.
Boulter made an important hold in the first game of the second set, but the Belgian kept the pressure on to break in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead as another return from the Briton flew wide.
Wickmayer - who won the doubles title with Sophie Chang on Friday - held and then battled back from 15-40 down to break Boulter again in the seventh game. Although Boulter saved one match point, it was only delaying the inevitable as a return into the net saw Wickmayer progress to Sunday's final against Swan.
"I am really enjoying my time on the grass, so am really happy to have gotten a lot of matches this week," Wickmayer said following her win. "I am really happy to be in another final here and just going to enjoy one more."
In the men's doubles final, British pair Jonny O'Mara and Liam Broady came through in three sets to beat Alexei Popyrin and Aleksandar Vukic 6-4 5-7 10-8.
