Andy Murray once again came from behind as he beat Alexandre Muller to reach the semi-finals of the Qatar Open.
The 35-year-old dropped the first set but came roaring back to beat his French opponent 4-6 6-1 6-2 to set up a last-four clash against Jiri Lehecka.
Murray has been pushed to the limit on several occasions already in 2023, battling through two marathon matches at the Australian Open and it’s been more of the same in Doha this week.
He saved match points in his opponent match against Lorenzo Sonego, and then edged past Alexander Zverev after more than three hours on court.
That set up a quarter-final against Muller, who came through qualifying earlier this week in an impressive run to the last eight.
After losing a tight first set, Murray flew out of the blocks in the second and raced into a 5-0 lead. Muller just about about avoided a bagel, but Murray swiftly held to love to level the match up.
The British star was absolutely ruthless on serve in the decider, dropping just a single point in the set and securing a double break as eased to victory in unusually routine fashion.
Friday’s match against Lehecka, who knocked out top seed Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals and beat British number one Cameron Norrie at the Australian Open earlier this year, will be Murray’s first semi-final since the Stuttgart Open eight months ago.
This is a tournament Murray won in 2008 and 2009, and reached the final in six years ago when losing to Novak Djokovic.
