European Open: Andy Murray Outlasts Marius Copil To Reach Semi-finals

Andy Murray is just a match away from reaching his first final in two seasons as he will be playing in his first semi-final since hip injury spell against France's Ugo Humbert on Saturday.

In the three-time Grand Slam winner debut appearance in Antwerp, he advanced into the semi-final after playing through two hours and 35 minutes against Marius Copil in his second quarterfinal appearance of the season - his first was in China Open where he lost to Austrian player, Dominic Thiem.

Murray outclassed the 29-year-old in three sets 6-3, 6-7(9), 6-4 during which the Romanian served 20 aces against him serving nine. However, he won the opener converted second breakpoint advantage with a forehand groundstroke down the baseline.

Unlike the first set, Murray found Marius uneasy in the second set. He had taken an early break for 4-1 lead before the Romanian staged a rally and leveled up 4-4 and forced a tiebreak which he eventually won on a rally from 6-7 down by claiming three set points.

"It was a tough one to get through," Murray said. "Thankfully I managed to get the break right at the end. I feel Ok now. It's more about how you up the following day."

Marius again picked up a break in the decider, holding on to the lead until 3-4 when the former world no. 1 broke back and rallied on to clinch victory winning three straight games.

Since the Dubai Open in 2017, Murray will be bidding for his first final appearance after going under the knives for hip surgery that has devastated his ATP ranking and performance. Now, he seemed in good shape and form.