Murray was unusually profligate, committing numerous unforced errors from his usually rock-solid groundstrokes. PHOTO: AFP
Simon stood 1-12 in previous encounters against the two-time Grand Slam winner and unleashed one of his best performances to stage the 6-4, 6-2 upset.
Murray, who went down double breaks at the start of each set, confessed to getting off to a poor start; the recent Australian Open finalist admitting he never found the rhythm to recover. “I struggled with most shots and I had a poor start,” said the world number four who won the Dutch title in 2009. “Simon is a top player who has been around the top 20 for most of his career. None of the matches I’ve won against him have been easy.”
Simon will take a 6-3 head-to-head record into his semi-final with defending champion Tomas Berdych, who scraped his knuckles during a second-set fall on court on the way to beating Gael Monfils 6-1, 6-4.
“I had lost so many times to Murray that I was not afraid at all,” said the 19th-ranked French winner. “I know his game so well, there are no surprises.”
Aisam, Zimonjic exit last eight
Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his partner Nenad Zimonjic crashed out of the doubles quarter-finals after losing 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/3) to Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
The pair put up a fight in the first set, breaking Rojer and Tecau’s serve once and levelling the set 6-6, but lost 7-6 in the tie-break. The Pak-Serb duo incurred two double faults in the opening set and only managed to hit two aces compared to their opponents’ six.
Rojer and Tecau sealed their win in the second set 7-6 with 77 points won against Aisam and Zimonjic’s 67.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2015.
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