Andy Murray beats Kyle Edmund to reach China Open semi-finals

Andy Murray was stretched by Kyle Edmund in the battle of Britain at the China Open, but eventually came out on top to reach the semi-finals.

The two-time Wimbledon champion was forced to withstand a series of forehand winners from the rising star of the British game to win 7-6 (11-9) 6-2.

Edmund, who looks set to move into the world's top 50 following his run to the last eight, went toe-to-toe with his Davis Cup team-mate for long periods in the opening set and following a marathon tie-break, the British No 1 eventually took his chance with his fifth set point.

Murray then ran away with the second set thanks to three breaks of serve to set up a clash against fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer on Saturday.

The two players had met just once before in competitive action, in the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club earlier this year, where Murray came through in three sets on grass.

Edmund had enjoyed a successful US Open campaign where he reached the fourth round, and displayed a confident and assured performance against Murray during the early exchanges.

The 29-year-old, who is the top seed at the China Open following the withdrawal of world No 1 Novak Djokovic, saved an early set point in the first set tiebreak and despite earning a series of set points himself, Edmund kept him at bay.

Edmund's resistance was eventually broken at 10-9, thanks to a winning first serve from the three-time major winner after 52 minutes of play.

Edmund looked to get back on track when he broke the British No 1 early in the next, but failed to consolidate the break despite being 40-15 ahead on his serve.

Murray was in no mood to take his foot off the gas, picking up his game to rally from 2-0 down to race through the set, clinching the match when his opponent fired long.

Watch Murray vs Ferrer as part of Saturday's China Open  - live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 6am.

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