Key Biscayne, FL – Former champion Andy Murray and three- time Miami runner-up Rafael Nadal each secured a berth in the semifinals at the $3.973 million Sony Ericsson Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event.
The second-seeded Spaniard needed all three sets to complete a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over sixth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a grueling match that lasted nearly three hours.
Nadal cruised in the first set, but Tsonga smoked three aces and won 22-of-27 first serve points to take the second set. The former world No. 1 Nadal hung on in the third set, saving all three break point opportunities he had to complete the victory.
The 10-time major champion Nadal owns a co-record 19 Masters titles, but fell to current top-ranked star Novak Djokovic in last year's finale in Miami. He advances to the semis where three-time Grand Slam runner-up Murray awaits.
The fourth-seeded 2009 Miami titlist Murray overcame a mid-match funk in order to get past tough ninth-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 amid breezy conditions on the hardcourts at Crandon Park.
Murray found himself down a set and a break, as Tipsarevic rattled off six straight games at one point for a 6-2, 2-0 lead, but the Brit righted the ship en route to the win.
The athletic Murray prevailed in 2 hours, 38 minutes in a bout that featured 11 service breaks, including six for the winner.
Murray had to summon a trainer at one point early in the second set as he was battling some "indigestion," he said after the match.
Two other quarters will be staged on Thursday, when a top-seeded Djokovic takes on fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish encounters 21st-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco. The reigning Australian Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion Djokovic, of Serbia, is a two-time Miami titlist (2007, 2011) and was the runner-up here to Murray in '09.
The 2012 Miami champ will collect $659,775.
