Andy Murray has reached the Australian Open semi-finals for the fifth time in his career after beating home favourite Nick Kyrgios in straight sets.
The Scot came through 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 after two hours of tennis in Melbourne.
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Both players gave little away in the opening exchanges, until two unforced errors from Kyrgios allowed Murray to break serve and move 4-2 ahead. Kyrgios recovered by winning his next service game, but Murray held on to his lead and served out the set with ease.
The second set was a tight affair, with Murray and Kyrgios performing strongly on their service games. Murray forced the opportunity to break his Australian opponent in the third game, but Kyrgios recovered to keep the scores level.
The set went to a tie-break, which saw Kyrgios move into a 4-2 lead. However, number six seed Murray stormed back to move 6-5 ahead, before taking the second set with a well-placed lob that left his opponent beaten.
The early games of the third set followed a similar pattern to the second, with both players holding serve. Murray looked to have made a crucial break in the sixth game, although he allowed Kyrgios to win the break back in the following game thanks to two unforced errors.
Some strong defensive play from Murray on the Kyrgios serve saw the Scot break again in the next game to set up the chance to serve for the match.
Murray made the most of the opportunity, serving out the set 6-3 to set up a semi-final clash against Tomas Berdych.
Steven Toplis
