Andy Murray will face a second British opponent in as many days when he plays Kyle Edmund at Queen’s Club on Friday.
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Edmund, the British No 3, feels two-time Grand Slam champion Murray has been a magnificent example and role model to young British players and although he took the inaugural Tie Break Tens title against him at London’s Royal Albert Hall a year ago, he is still unable to master him at Versaclimber sessions.
It will also be the first time two British players have met in the last eight at Queen’s since the start of the Open era and the only time anywhere since Tim Henman beat Great Rusedski at Adelaide in 2002.
That intimate knowledge should have worked in Murray’s favour after he took control with a break for a 2-1 lead.
“I train with Kyle, I know how good he is”, said Murray.
“I’m very fortunate that he has allowed me to come into his environment and shared stuff with his team and stay with him”. He broke back for 2-all as Murray netted a backhand.
There had been a real buzz about the top quarter of the draw in the Aegon Championships from the moment it was made, because the best four British men, all now in the top 10, were in the same section, headed by the four-time champion and top seed Andy Murray.
Murray beat British number two Aljaz Bedene on Thursday, and will face the British number three next.
But their respective levels went in opposite directions at the start of the third and that decided the match.
However, as in his wins over Bedene and Nicolas Mahut, Murray was some way short of his best and there was an immediate break back by Edmund, who appeared unperturbed by being unexpectedly awoken in the early hours of Friday to take delivery of a washing machine in his new flat. Murray, though, got a grip of the contest to break again and take the set.
“Kyle Edmund is improving all the time – it’s not one massive leap but every year he gets a bit better”. “If he’s given time and a little bit of space to keep developing, he can go very far”.
It soon became clear that Murray was going to pay Edmund the compliment of being reasonably grumpy, although the frustration was directed at himself rather than his bench.
Murray faced a break point in the opening game but then broke to lead 5-3 and served out the set.
Murray plays third-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic or unseeded Australian Bernard Tomic in the final.
When Murray had his progress rocked to slip 1-3 behind in the second set, he knew he had a live opponent on his hands. The crowd and his own little fan club thought so too.
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In the doubles, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares lost in the quarterfinals 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 10-3 to Chris Guccione and Andre Sa.
