Indian Wells: Murray wins to set up Djokovic s’final

Andy Murray set a new record for Open-era wins by a British man after easing past Feliciano Lopez to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells.

The world number four equalled Tim Henman’s 496-victory mark in beating Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday and moved clear with a 6-3 6-4 win over Lopez.

Murray, 27, is now unbeaten in 10 career meetings with the Spaniard.

Novak Djokovic awaits in Saturday’s last four after his opponent Bernard Tomic withdrew because of injury.

Lopez’s dismal record in career meetings with Murray never looked in any danger of being reversed as the Briton took control of the match from the outset.

Comfortable holds of service were a feature for Murray as Lopez failed to find his rhythm, and a single break of serve in the fourth game proved sufficient to take the opener, reports the BBC.

Murray broke early in the second set before finally being asked a few questions in the next game, defending break points before moving 3-1 ahead.

Andy Murray’s latest win over Feliciano Lopez was completed in 92 minutes

He unlocked the Lopez serve for a third time on the back of two wonderful shots. First, a superb passing return set up break point, which he converted with a perfect lob to the back of the court.

Murray wobbled briefly when serving for the match at 5-2, allowing Lopez a first break of the contest, but he held in his next service game to get over the line.

“It was a good match in difficult conditions against a tough opponent,” Murray told Sky Sports. “I passed very well today and it stopped him from feeling comfortable at the net.

“It kept him back and I was able to dictate the points.

“I’ve got my level back to where I was before my back injury.”

A rested world number one now lies in wait after Djokovic progressed without hitting a ball due to the withdrawal of Australian 32nd seed Tomic, who has a back injury.