Italian Open 2016: Andy Murray sets up semifinal showdown against Lucas Pouille

Andy Murray

Rome, May 13 (IANS): Scottish tennis star Andy Murray reached the Italian Open semi-finals on Friday by winning 6-1, 7-5 against Belgian David Goffin, and will face Frenchman Lucas Pouille on Saturday. Murray continued his good form and only needed one hour and 35 minutes to defeat Goffin, who eliminated on Thursday world No .8 Tomas Berdych, with a double 6-0.

The Scot has now won seven of his last eight matches, having reached the final in Madrid last week – where he lost to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. The Scot already has a win over King of Clay Rafael Nadal this season, and is riding a wave of confidence heading into the French Open.

World No. 3 Murray will play in the semi-finals against Pouille, who managed to progress without playing due to the withdrawal of the Argentine Juan Monaco because of injury. This is the first time that Pouille has reached the semifinal of a Masters 1000 tournament, and he will play with nothing to lose tomorrow.

 Murray, a finalist in the Australia Open and the Madrid Open, has reached the Rome semi-finals for the first time since 2011.