Fourth seed Andy Murray set a record for Open Era wins by a British man with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Feliciano Lopez to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells Thursday.
Murray booked showdown with defending champion Novak Djokovic who won his quarter-final in a walkover when Australian Bernard Tomic withdrew from their scheduled quarter-final in the WTA and ATP hardcourt tournament.
Murray now has 497 match wins, surpassing Tim Henman for the most in the Open Era by a British player.
"I was able to deal with his difficult spins today but it was tough because he fought right to the end," said Murray, now just three wins shy of the 500-win milestone.
There are just eight active players and only 45 in Open Era history to hit the 500 mark.
Murray blasted four aces and won over 70 percent of his first and second serve points in the one hour, 32 minute match.
Lopez came into the match leading the tournament in aces with 46 in three matches. But the 12th seeded Spaniard managed just five against Murray on Thursday.
Murray ended his historic 2013 -- where he became the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years -- when he had back surgery. The rehab took time and he was not the same player in 2014.
But Murray began to get back into form at the end of last year and is now eager to win his first Indian Wells title this week. His best finish is a runner-up in 2009, when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the final.
He was also runner up at January’s Australian Open and lost in the quarter-finals this year in Dubai and Rotterdam.
World number one Djokovic advanced to the semis without lifting his racquet after a bad back and painful wisdom tooth forced Tomic to pull out.
Tomic made his decision to withdraw several hours before his match was to open the evening session, allowing Djokovic a free pass.
Besides the troubling back, Tomic had been dealing with a wisdom tooth problem which he hopes to get taken care of in Miami where another pretigious hardcourt tournament starts next week.
- Double whammy for injured Tomic -
"I'm on medication the last few days for the infected area, my wisdom tooth," he said.
"The face is inflamed even more on the right side of my cheekbone. It's tough for me to actually even move and rotate my head, so I can't really be turning.
"I'm scared to run on the back, as well.
"Everything is not good for me. And I had to play Novak, so it's not something I want to go on the court with.
"Maybe if one of those things wasn't there I could have played, but having two is not good."
Tomic said his status for the Miami tournament is up in the air and whether he plays or not will depend on whether he can find a good dentist to remove the bad tooth.
"I'd like to play it, but if there is an opportunity to get that wisdom tooth out before Miami, I probably won't play in Miami, but it will come down to next few days before I decide," he said.
Djokovic will get an extra day's rest before he faces Murray.
Tomic was enjoying his best run in four appearances in Indian Wells. It was also the first time he had reached the quarter-finals of an ATP Tour Masters event.
Source: AFP