Andy Murray came storming back from a set down to beat Julien Benneteau and move into the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.
British number one powers into semis with strong fightback
Andy Murray came storming back from losing the opening set to beat Julien Benneteau 4-6 6-3 6-1 and move into a semi-final showdown with Roger Federer at the Cincinnati Masters.
Defending champion Murray is looking for back-to-back Masters Series wins after his success in Montreal last week, but he struggled early on in the windy conditions in Ohio.
Lucky loser Benneteau benefited from Juan Martin Del Potro's absence to go up against Murray, but he made it count as he took the opening set.
However, the British number one came back strongly and won 12 out of the last 14 games to eventually dismantle the Frenchman and go through into the last four.
With some poor serving from Murray combined with some attacking play from Benneteau, the Frenchman took the opening set and Murray was up against it.
Breaks
Murray was then broken in his first service game of the second set, but the turning point in the match probably came in the very next game.
Trailing 0-2, Murray prevailed after a marathon 53-shot rally on break point to pull a game back and then went on the rampage as the energy seemed to drain away from his opponent instantly.
"That unbelievable rally, 53 shots or something, that really changed the match
for me," Murray told
Sky Sports Xtra. "Physically he was struggling a little bit after that."
"I served terrible in the first set - six doubles. The ball was blowing all over the place.
"He obviously played well. It was tricky conditions. I was shanking a lot of balls at the start.
"I was hitting the ball really clean from the back of the court but leaving a lot of balls short so I ended up doing a lot of running, which wasn't really the plan going into the match."
Fed test
New world number two Murray now faces world number one Roger Federer in the last four after the Swiss star strolled past Lleyton Hewitt in the second quarter-final.
Former world number one Hewitt could not live with Federer, as the Australian went down 6-3 6-4 and now the top two players in the world will clash in the last four.
Federer beat Murray in the US Open final last year, and he admitted the Brit was a force on the hardcourts.
"He (Murray) has been more or less the best player in the world on hard courts this year," Federer said in a courtside interview.
"I know it's going to be a very tough match. I just have to come out with my game plan and hope it works."
Rafa continues run
Former world number one Rafael Nadal continued his successful comeback from injury as he eased into the semi-finals with a straight sets win over Czech Tomas Berdych.
A single service break in each set was enough for the Spaniard as he wrapped up a 6-4 7-5 victory in one hour and 41 minutes.
Nadal will now play Novak Djokovic who beat France's Gilles Simon by the same scoreline, the Serb converting three of nine break points on his way to victory inside 90 minutes.
