Murray beats Stepanek, Djokovic defeats Haas to reach Shanghai Masters semis
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Two-time defending champion Andy Murray reached the Shanghai Masters semifinals with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Radek Stepanek on Friday.
Murray, who improved to 11-0 in Shanghai, will next play either top-seeded Roger Federer or Marin Cilic.
"I just managed to turn it around in time," Murray said. "I played actually very well I thought the last 10, 15 minutes of the match."
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Novak Djokovic also advanced, beating unseeded Tommy Haas of Germany 6-3, 6-3. The second-seeded Serb will next face Tomas Berdych, who beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Stepanek dominated the first set and never offered the third-seeded Murray an opportunity to break serve. The Czech had 10 winners to only three for Murray.
Murray rebounded in the second set, breaking serve to go ahead 4-2. Stepanek had two opportunities to break back in the seventh game, but Murray held on to his lead.
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Stepanek saved two set points on his serve in the eighth game, but netted a forehand on the third set point.
"It was quite a scrappy first couple of sets," Murray said. "Obviously, the second set I managed to get a break, got a bit of momentum."
In the third, the 41st-ranked Stepanek was up a break at 2-1 and had a game point for a 3-1 lead. But Murray broke back, winning 21 of 26 points to clinch the match.
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The fourth-seeded Berdych had an ace against Tsonga on match point.
"I think it was a really solid game and solid performance from the beginning until the end," Berdych said. "I was feeling quite well on the court.
"The biggest difference between me and Jo was I was able to take the small chances during even the first, and especially the second set."
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Tsonga's only two wobbles cost him. He had a shaky eighth service game in the first set and lost his serve at love. The second-set tiebreaker was tied 4-4 when Tsonga double-faulted.