Angry Murray is a smash hit
ANDY MURRAY knows he will have to up his game to beat Gilles Simon in the quarter- fi nals of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
The top seed was furious with himself during the second set of his 6- 3, 7- 5 defeat of Canada’s Vasek Pospisil yesterday.
Murray smashed his racket after doublefaulting to fall 5- 3 down, but Pospisil could not convert his single set point when he served at 5- 4.
Murray will play Simon, the eighth seed, after he beat fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in straight sets, and said: “Gilles is a tough opponent. He’s a strong runner with perfect timing. I’ll need to serve better.”
Murray’s wayward delivery caused him problems during the second set.
He broke Pospisil to move 3- 2 up but was broken back immediately thanks to the Canadian’s best returns of the match. Pospisil held and then sparked Murray’s fl are- up by breaking for 5- 3. But the world No4 regained his cool and did not allow Pospisil another game.
Defending champion Tomas Berdych, of the Czech Republic, also reached the last eight with a 6- 0, 3- 6, 6- 3 defeat of Italian Andreas Seppi.
THE Italian Tennis Federation has suspended Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace for 40 days as match- fi xing investigations continue.
A tribunal decided there was a “substantial probability of recognition of the responsibility of Bracciali and Starace for the facts alleged against them” and a risk of further illegal conduct. The pair are suspected of fi xing the results of matches as part of a betting scam.
They both served short bans in 2008 for betting on matches involving other players.