By Niall Clarke
- Andy Murray will face Viktor Troicki in the semi-finals of the Aegon Championships
- The pair are due second on centre court
- Murray leads the head to head 6-0.
Andy Murray’s search for a fourth Queens Club title continues Saturday when he plays Viktor Troicki for a place in Sunday’s final.
The British number one overcame a stern test from Gilles Muller on Friday, where he was forced to come from a set down to defeat the big serving leftie.
Murray now turns his attention to world number 25 Viktor Troicki, who has climbed his way back up the rankings after serving a 12 month ban for doping from summer 2013-2014.
The Serbian has made his way through the draw, beating higher ranked players in John Isner and Marin Cilic in his past two matches. His straight sets win over the big serving American is the most impressive of them so far.
Troicki needed three sets to defeat Paul Henri Mathieu and Marin Cilic in the opening two rounds, even coming from a set down against the US Open champion.
The 29 year old now faces his biggest test in the form of Murray, who despite facing tests from Yen Hsun Lu, Fernando Verdasco and Gilles Muller, has come through the first three matches for a loss of only one set.
The statistics look good from a British point of view especially when you see that Murray has never lost to Troicki in six matches.
In that time, Troicki has only taken two sets which came at the French Open in 2011. The Serbian had a two sets lead, but squandered it to Murray who went on to reach the semi-finals of the tournament.
Apart from that close affair in Paris, it has been plain sailing for Murray who’s other five victories against Troicki have been routine straight sets wins.
On paper this should be a straight sets win for Murray, but Troicki can be a tricky customer as proven by the two sets he took four years ago.
Of course, Murray must keep his concentration as Troicki will take advantage of any lapses. With the home crowd behind him, the top seed should advance to the final, but be wary of the upset.
Murray vs Troicki is scheduled second on centre court on Saturday, not before 2:45pm BST.