Andy Murray moved a step closer to a record-equalling fourth Queen's Club title as the top seed defeated Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-4, while Grigor Dimitrov joined the lengthy list of star casualties. While defending champion Dimitrov was beaten 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) by Gilles Muller in the second round on Thursday, Murray avoided becoming the latest big name to fall with a second successive straight-sets win at the Wimbledon warm-up event.
Dimitrov's lacklustre exit against the world number 48 from Luxembourg came hot on the heels of Rafael Nadal's shock loss to Ukrainian journeyman Alexandr Dolgopolov and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka's defeat against Kevin Anderson. Murray had been due to face Dimitrov in the quarter-finals on Friday, so the series of upsets leave the world number three, who now boasts an impressive 22-5 career record at Queen's, as the strong favourite to win the title ahead of his meeting with the unheralded Muller.
The 28-year-old last triumphed at Queen's in 2013 and if he lifts the giant silver trophy on Sunday he will join Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt as the joint record winner of the tournament. "Fernando is obviously an extremely powerful guy and you don't have a chance to get into some of the rallies. But he didn't serve so well which gave me a few opportunities," Murray said. "I was happy with the way I moved - it was better than the first match."
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