Andy out to destroy Japanese dream

Andy Murray may come across as rather cold in some media portrayals but he must have some mates amongst the players. So far he has avoided having to play 14th seed Gael Monfils and 6th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and not because of the British attitude towards the French. Those two players were drawn to meet Andy but had misfortune strike in the respective forms of Kukushkin and Nishikori. Andy cashed in on unseeded Kukushkin, and in today's quarter final had weight of punters money on him fixing up his Japanese opponent.

Murray, looking to contest his third straight final at Melbourne Park, (though some would say if he contested one this year, that would be a change from his just turning up on previous occasions) broke away from the peloton and the break was on the Nishikori serve. Serves were held by both players while the peloton tried to chase down the break, but it was to no avail, as the lead stretched to 5-2.

Nishikori did his best to increase the pace at the front of the pack but had little support and while he forced Murray to the line, Andy had enough of a lead to win the stage 6-3. Murray served consistently well, a habit of which he has fallen foul this tournament, and one from which rival players are attempting to assist him recover. His punishing forehand has also become something he is finding difficult to remove from his game.

Nishikori's second set endeavors again landed him in strife with a break of serve early on. Murray's strength on serve almost guaranteed that this break would insure the second set going to the Scot, and everything that that Kei threw at Murray including the kitchen sink and several Japanese electrical goods, had no effect in veering off course the Scottish steam train, heading express to a Friday night semi final.

The final game of the set was a break of serve and most of the third set followed the same script. Kei Nishikori had met his match - the young Japanese player, for all his talent and potential was as out of his depth as Andy must have felt in the past two finals.

This year Murray should provide stiffer opposition to Novak Djokovic were he to play him.

Andy Murray home in three sets 6-3 6-3 6-1. He will play the winner of Djokovic and Ferrer in the semi final.