Andy Murray to play his first clay semi-final

Andy Murray is through to his first ever semi as a pro on clayy

Andy Murray has reached his first ever semi-final on clay after defeating Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-finals at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The 21-year-old won the first set in a tie-break on court centrale 7-1 in only the second ever tie-break between the pair.

Murray had been in action earlier in the day when he overcame Italy’s Fabio Fognini in straight sets in the morning – a match that was delayed from yesterday because of rain the previous day.

Under the floodlights as daylight faded, Murray suffered an early scare in the second after he lost his first service game. A visibly frustrated Murray then failed again to win his serve, despite breaking the Russian once, and went 4-1 down.

“I can learn a lot from playing the top guys on their best surfaces.”

Andy Murray looks ahead to his clay-court clash with Rafa Nadal

But after clearly suffering from blisters on his hand, the British number one fought back to level it at 4-4. Davydenko then lost his serve, and seemingly his nerve, to leave the Scot to serve for the match at 5-4.

Murray then served out the final game to seal his first ever semi-final on clay.

So Murray’s 2009 goes from strength to strength and he will play the king of clay himself, Rafael Nadal, in the semi-final.

Looking forward to his clash with Nadal, Murray said: “It’s great, obviously it’s a great experience for me. I can learn a lot from playing the top guys on their best surfaces.”