Murray Wins as Dimitrov Stumbles at Aegon Championships
Seeking his fourth career title at The Queens Club, Andy Murray continued his winning ways on Thursday, defeating Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Aegon Championships quarterfinals.
He nailed down two break points in the opener to take the first set. After holding serve to go up 5-4 in the second, Murray broke the Spaniard for the third time in the match to close out the straight-set victory.
“It was a tricky match,” said Murray. “I was happy with the way I moved. It was a little bit better than the first match.”
A key point in the match came early in the second set. Verdasco had four different break point chances in Murray’s opening two service games, but was unable to convert on any of them.
Murray will take on Luxembourg’s’ Gilles Muller in the quarters. Muller ousted sixth-seed and defending champion Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 7-6(5).
Muller came back from a 0-3 hole in the second-set tiebreaker to upset Dimitrov, who has yet to reach a tournament final since lifting the trophy at this event last year.
“I’m just going to stay positive,” said Dimitrov. “Wimbledon is coming up. I’m going to have good time to get ready. Everything is going to be fine for me. I’m just going to probably rest a little bit. It’s good to let the body recover. First week on grass is always a bit intense on the body. You’re a little stiff every day. I’m just going to get a little bit of a rest and get out on the practice court and keep working. This is pretty much the best thing I can do right now.”
American John Isner played one of his patented matches on Thursday, a three-setter with all three sets going to tiebreakers. Isner would prevail over eighth-seed Feliciano Lopez 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 7-6(4) to reach the quarterfinals.
There were no breaks of serve from either player and a total of 65 aces, 36 for Isner and 29 for Lopez.
Isner will meet Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the quarters after Troicki came back from a set down to beat fourth-seed Marin Cilic 6-7(8), 6-2, 6-3.
