The semifinal field was set at the Aegon Championships on Thursday, with all four quarterfinals being completed. The rain only managed to delay play, rather than stopping it completely, and by day’s end, three seeded players were still standing at the Queen’s Club. Here’s what happened on day five in London.
Results
The first match of the day finally saw the completion of the second round, as Roberto Bautista Agut finished off Donald Young in a match pushed over from Thursday. The sixth seed had won the opening set and wasted no time picking up where he left off on Friday, breaking immediately in the second set for the early lead. He added a second break later on his way to a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
For the second day in a row, Andy Murray did battle with a fellow Brit. This time, the Scot was given all he could handle by Kyle Edmund as the four-time champion needed three sets to defeat his compatriot. Despite being broken twice, Edmund did well to hand with Murray in the opening set, recovering one of the breaks. In the second, the world number 85 turned the tables, scoring two breaks of his own and limiting his opponent to one to send the match to a deciding set. However, the deciding set was dominated by the top seed. Murray raced ahead 5-0 with two breaks before Edmund was able to get on the board. Even when he did, he was only delaying the inevitable as the top seed advanced with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
Fifth seed Marin Cilic finally put an end to Steve Johnson’s run, although the American gave the former Queen’s Club champion a run for his money, with the Croat needing three sets to claim victory. The opening set was dominated by serve, as both men only lost two points on their first serves and did not face a break point before Johnson won the tiebreak to take the opener. Cilic kept his service levels up in the second and Johnson could not match him, as the Croat scored the first break of the match which was enough to send it to a decider. In the final set, The American was unable to convert any of his three break points and was broken on the only break point he surrendered, allowing Cilic to advance 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4.
Bautista Agut returned to the court only a few hours after advancing to the quarterfinals to contest his match with Milos Raonic. The Spaniard was sluggish in the early stages, while the red hot Raonic came out firing. The Canadian won eight of the first nine games to give himself a set and a break lead and never looked back, cruising to a straight sets victory. Check out the full recap here.
In the semis, Raonic will take on Bernard Tomic, who battled to a three-set win over last week’s Ricoh Open runner-up Gilles Muller. Tomic survived some strong serving from Muller, including 26 aces by the man from Luxembourg, to claim a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2. Tomic dropped only four points on serve in the opening set, but was unable to convert a break point. He took the set in the tiebreak, but Muller responded by scoring the first break of the match to win the second set and send the match to a decider In the final frame, the Aussie finally broke down his opponent’s serve, breaking twice and saving all three break points on his serve to advance to the semifinals.
The semis will take place tomorrow, with Murray taking on Cilic, while Raonic battles with Tomic.