F2336ABB-4C5E-4EAF-9354-BC5245127BA6
By Sean Rudolph
(June 11, 2010) Mardy Fish doesn't have Andy Murray's ranking, but he does have Murray's number.
Playing a tactically and technically sound match, the 90th-ranked Fish attacked with ambition in upsetting defending champion Murray, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(2), to advance to the Queen's Club quarterfinals.
"It wasn't particularly good, few rallies, lots of mistakes," Murray said. Today was a bit of a shoot-out. I played two or three bad points and lost the match."
After a brief break, Fish returned to the court to score a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 12 seed michael Llodra and advance to Saturday's semifinals against Feliciano Lopez.
The eighth-seeded Lopez defeated World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, 7-6(5), 6-4, to snap the five-time French Open champion's 24-match winning streak.
It was Fish's second straight win over Murray, following his 6-4, 6-4, triumph over the defending Sony Ericsson Open champion in Miami in March.
"Playing a guy like Andy, I need to play one specific way," Fish said after that match. "I needed to stay aggressive. I need to sort of keep the points relatively short not necessarily because I can't last, but because I'm just not going to win the points very often if they go 10 shots in a row. I certainly feel like I can do that point in and point out now."
He continuously applied pressure to the more passive Murray, particularly in the latter stages of the match.
At 2-all in the breaker, Fish stuck a backhand volley winner into the corner. He did not lose a point the rest of the tie breaker.
Murray, whose forehand can betray him on occasion, had a good look at a mid-court forehand but sent the shot long. Fish attacked behind second serve and when Murray's shot clipped the top of tape Fish held his ground and knocked off a backhand volley winner. Murray netted a forehand return giving Fish match point. Attacking again, Fish coaxed a running error from Murray to close out the victory.
The match began on Thursday. Fish surged out to a 3-0 lead in the third set only to see Murray rally to 3-all. Amid fading light, Fish departed the court leaving Murray angry.
"The only reason he didn't want to play is because it's 3-3," Murray complained to umpire Cedric Mourier on Thursday night. "Ten minutes ago when it was 3-1 he was quite happy. I have never known this before. It's ridiculous."
Today, Murray said it was the abrupt decision to stop play on Thursday that annoyed him more than the dim conditinos.
"I wasn't annoyed about the light so much as the fact that I wasn't consulted," Murray said.
Seeds continue to scatter from the Aegon Championships.
The third-seeded Murray joined four-time champion Andy Roddick, who fell, 6-4, 7-6(8), to Dudi Sela, second-seeded Novak Djokovic, who lost in three sets to Xavier Malisse, and fifth-seeded Marin Cilic, who succumbed to Michael Llodra.
There are two Americans in the final four as Fish will face Lopez for a iinal spot.
American Sam Querrey struck nine aces in a 6-3, 7-5 win over former Wimbledon semifinalist Malisse. Querrey will take on either the 14th-seeded Sela or 2008 Wimbledon semifinalist Rainer Schuettler in Saturday's semifinals.
Meanwhile Murray's slump continues. He started the season reaching the Australian Open final, falling to Roger Federer in straight sets. Murray has not reached a semifinal in the eight tournaments he's played since Melbourne.