Manchester | Murray advances to semi-finals

Stockport’s Samantha Murray continued her impressive form at the LTA’s Manchester Trophy, upsetting No.7 seed Marie Bouzkova before overcoming countrywoman Naomi Broady to reach the semi-finals.

“It was really tough. I know Naomi really well, we’ve played so many times so we both know each other’s games inside out, She served well but then it went off a bit at the end which gave me a chance. I’m really pleased as I thought it was a high level match. Samantha Murray

Murray, who advanced through qualifying on Monday, defeated Bouzkova 7-5 6-4 in an hour and 41 minutes on an indoor hard court in her first match of the day. The first set contained seven breaks of serve before Murray held to win it while just one break of serve was enough in the second set for the Briton to claim victory.
In her second match of the day on Centre Court, Murray got the better of Manchester’s Broady, who had needed just 65 minutes to defeat Gabriella Taylor 6-2 6-4 earlier in the day, 7-6(4) 6-2. Some impressive serving from both players ensured it was a tight first set before Murray capitalised on a couple of loose service games from the wildcard, winning four consecutive games to record a straight sets triumph in 78 minutes.
“It was really tough. I know Naomi really well, we’ve played so many times so we both know each other’s games inside out,” said Murray. “She served well but then it went off a bit at the end which gave me a chance. I’m really pleased as I thought it was a high level match.”
Murray will play top seed Magda Linette, who defeated Sachia Vickery and Lizette Cabrera in her two matches on Friday, in the semi-finals on Saturday. The second semi-final will see No.2 seed Madison Brengle take on the winner of the quarter-final match between No.3 seed Zarina Diyas and Xiyu Wang which was suspended at 7-6(1) 5-2 due to rain.
Inclement weather once again affected the schedule on Friday with play starting on the indoor hard courts before a dry spell allowed for matches to take place on the outdoor grass courts. More rain later in the day also meant the final two doubles matches had to be played inside.