TENNIS in DEPTH.

Andy Murray eased past Albert Montanes and into the semi-finals of the Valencia Open.

The British star claimed a 6-4 6-2 in Spain on Friday.

The duo traded breaks of serve in the early stages, but Murray broke again late in the first set to take control.

And playing pressure-free tennis in the second set, he pushed on to secure a convincing victory, breaking his Spanish foe twice more.

Murray will play another Spaniard in the last four – either fourth seed Fernando Verdasco or Tommy Robredo, seeded seven.

The Scot was pushed hard in his three-set win over Leonardo Mayer on Thursday but he got off to the perfect start on this occasion with a break in the opening game when a Montanes backhand drifted wide.

This was the pair’s third meeting, all of which have come in 2009, with Murray triumphing in Doha and Indian Wells.

He was struggling to find his range with his much-lauded double-handed backhand, though, and another error brought up a break point for Montanes in the sixth game.

And when a forehand from the top seed landed fractionally wide, the Spaniard had his break back, much to the delight of the Valencia crowd.

Montanes then held firm under pressure to win his third game in a row and take the lead in the match for the first time.

The Spaniard was not able to replicate that two games later, however, as Murray broke again thanks to a moment of real quality.

After a punishing rally, the 22-year-old executed a perfect backhand drop shot that left Montanes pinned to the baseline.

And this time Murray had no trouble holding onto his serve, wrapping up the set with an ace down the middle.

The British number one was clearly eager to avoid another lengthy match and he began the second set in purposeful style by setting up three break points.

Montanes, ranked 34th in the world, dug deep to get to deuce but Murray was not to be denied and he took advantage of his fourth chance with a backhand that proved too hot for his opponent.

Murray was now looking a class above Montanes, and the 28-year-old was broken for a second consecutive time as the world number four moved into a 4-0 lead.

The home hope stopped the rot in the fifth game and he created a break chance for himself with Murray serving for the match at 5-2 but some big serving and a pinpoint forehand sent the Scot into the last four.

On the other side of the draw, Mikhail Youzhny beat fifth seed Gilles Simon 6-4 6-4.

The defeat means Simon’s hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London are now almost over.

Youzhny will next face second seed Nikolay Davydenko.

He boosted his London qualification hopes with a 6-4 7-6 (7/3) victory over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

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