Murray battles through to semis

Andy Murray remains on course to win a fifth title of the year after overcoming a spirited challenge from Janko Tipsarevic at the St Petersburg Open.

Tipsarevic had surprisingly won two of his three previous matches against Murray - in the first round at Queen's Club in 2006 and then in Moscow last year.

He threatened another upset against the world number four and looked easily the fresher player for long stretches of the match, but Murray dug deep for a 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 victory to reach the semi-finals.

Defending champion Murray will face Spain's Fernando Verdasco on Saturday for a place in Sunday's final, as he looks to follow up last week's triumph at the Madrid Masters.

Murray began positively, with two aces in the opening game, and broke in the next before holding to lead 3-0. Tipsarevic took the fourth game, which triggered a burst of fine tennis by the Serbian.

At 5-5 in the tie-break, the top seed made his decisive move by claiming a mini-break and winning the next point on serve.

Murray broke to lead 2-1 in the second set, thanks to a crosscourt backhand which gave his opponent no chance.

But in keeping with the flow of the match Tipsarevic hit back straightaway with another break.

When Tipsarevic held to lead 4-3 with a deft volley, Murray booted the ball into the stand in a show of his clear frustration.

At 5-5, and just when Tipsarevic was looking a good bet to level the match, Murray broke serve and held with some ease to clinch victory.