Andy Murray came from a set down to beat Jason Kubler and reach the semi-finals of the Surbiton Trophy.
The 36-year-old opted to skip the French Open and turn his attention to the grass-court season, believing he is still one of the world’s best players on the surface as he looks to secure a seeding for Wimbledon.
In his toughest test of the tournament so far, Murray lost the first set but responded well to secure a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Kubler after just over two hours and set up a last-four clash against another Australian in Jordan Thompson.
The pair have met just once before, when Thompson beat Murray in straight sets at Queen’s six years ago.
Murray made a strong start against Kubler, breaking early in the opening set, but he gave that straight back and was then broken again as the Australian served it out to love with minimal fuss.
There were seven straight holds at the start of the second set, before Kubler blinked first and that was enough for Murray to level the match up, sending it to a decider that he swiftly took control of with an early double break.
Kubler got one of those back but it was not enough, as Murray brought up three match points and got over the finishing line at the first time of asking when Kubler sent an attempted drop shot into the net.
Katie Boulter also secured her place in the semi-finals at Surbiton, beating Viktorija Golubic 7-5 6-2, and she is joined there by two other Brits. Lily Miyazaki got the better of Isabelle Lacy and she will face Katie Swan, who produced a brilliant display to earn a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over top seed Tatjana Maria.
