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By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, March 19, 2015

 
Andy Murray

Andy Murray swept Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-4, extending his record against the Spaniard to 10-0 and setting up a blockbuster Indian Wells semifinal against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Photo credit: @BNPParibasOpen

Bouncing on his toes, Feliciano Lopez closed the net ready to pounce on a volley. For one of the few times all day, Lopez looked like he had Andy Murray right where he wanted him: On the run near the corner.

Then Murray flicked a forehand pass that dipped close to the top of the net disappearing for an instant and then reappearing to hop over the Spaniard's outstretched racquet. The shot left a befuddled Lopez staring at the spot where the ball was supposed to be like a man who couldn't shake a mirage from his mind.

Murray continued his mastery of Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-4, to set up a blockbuster semifinal showdown with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic — and establish the British Open era record for most victories. The 27-year-old Scot registered his 497th career win, surpassing Tim Henman for most career ATP wins by a Briton.




More: Djokovic Advances To Semis As Tomic Withdraws With Back Injury

Murray extended one streak and now aims to extinguish another.

The fourth-seeded Scot raised his record against Lopez to a perfect 10-0 and now faces a much more demanding task. Murray will try to snap a five-match losing skid to the Serbian in a rematch of the Australian Open final.

The reigning BNP Paribas Open champion advanced to his seventh Indian Wells semifinal without striking a shot when scheduled opponent Bernard Tomic withdrew from today's quarterfinal.

Djokovic drained Murray's legs and self-belief winning nine consecutive games in closing a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0 triumph to capture his Open Era-record fifth Australian Open title.

The top seed is 16-8 lifetime against Murray, including a 9-4 mark in their Masters meetings.

"Probably until last year our head to head was pretty close," said Murray who was born a week before Djokovic. "Last year was a tough year for me, especially the first six, seven months. He's obviously a  top, top player, especially on this surface. He's played extremely well here in the past. He will be totally fresh as well and ready for the semis, so it will be a tough one for me. But I feel like I played well this week and if  I  can  keep that level up for a sustained period on Saturday, I'll have a chance."

Murray's mother, Judy, is a bit of a Lopez fan, affectionately dubbing the stylish Madrid resident "Deliciano" for his good looks. However, her son continues to dish out misery for the left-hander who played stretches of beautiful attacking tennis in surprising fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori on Wednesday.

Working over Lopez's weaker one-handed backhand wing, Murray drew a groan from his extended opponent shoveling a forehand drop shot over the net in the opening game. He followed with a slice ace wide holding at love.

Bending low for a slice, Murray swatted a whiplash backhand winner crosscourt that spooked Lopez. The tension was compounded by the fact the lefty was staring straight up at the sun on serve. His first double fault gave the Scot double break point. Lopez fought off both, including tomahawking a forehand winner to draw to deuce. Blinking his eyes as if seeing sun spots, Lopez sailed a forehand to face a third break point then plopped a drop shot into the tape as Murray broke for 3-1.

The two-time Grand Slam champion threw down his third straight love hold, extending the advantage to 4-1. A shell-shocked Lopez finally won a point on the Murray serve in the seventh game. Too little, too late. A 132 mph blast into the body sealed a Murray hold at 15 for 5-2.

Lopez had lashed a tournament-best 46 aces entering the match. He finally hit his first past Murray in the eighth game. He staved off successive set points in th next game, but Murray beat him with the dropper again for a third set point. When Lopez sent a backhand beyond the baseline, Murray collected the first set in 38 minutes, winning 20 of 23 points played on his serve.

Breaking to open the second set, Murray quickly backed up the break for 2-0.

To his credit, Lopez didn't capitulate. He fought off 10 of 13 break points he faced. Lopez earned three break points in the third game, but missed the sideline on the first two and was handcuffed by a slice that burrowed into the court on the third. Lopez wound up as if ready to splatter his Wilson stick in frustration, but thought better of it. Murray, who was muttering in annoyance about Spydercam floating into his line of vision on serve, withstood the break point pressure for 3-1.

Serving for the match at 5-2, Murray played his worst service game, dumping a double fault and spraying a forehand to donate the first break of the day for Lopez.

Stepping up to serve for the semifinals again, Murray made no mistake. He sealed the 92-minute match at love.

A sharper second serve and and more explosive forehand are two reasons why Djokovic has swept five in a row from his former junior rival to take a 16-8 lead in their head-to-head series. Djokovic uses spin both as an attacking shot to open angles and as a defensive device to help him recover court when stretched.

Murray has not beaten Djokovic since a straight-sets triumph in the 2013 Wimbledon final, exorcising the ghosts of a 77-year British male title drought.   


 

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