Muller saves 10 match points to beat Isner, Murray eases through

The world number two is trying to win a record fifth Aegon Championships title this week.

The last time two British players contested an ATP Tour quarter-final was in Adelaide in 2002 when Tim Henman defeated Greg Rusedski 6-4, 6-4.

“The British thing had no bearing on it”. It’s been a steady progression with him, not one massive leap but every year he’s getting a little bit better. “I told my team I thought I would play a British player this year”, he revealed. I am happy there are more British players in the next round.

It may have been the less-heralded Battle of Britain on Thursday but Andy Murray also managed to stave off the underdog threat.

The victor will face British number three Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals tomorrow (Friday) after his second-round opponent Paul-Henri Mathieu withdrew from the tournament with a wrist injury this morning (Thursday).

Murray had never faced a compatriot on home soil before at tour level but he will now have played two in as many days at the Aegon Championships after he overcame Slovenian-born Bedene 6-3 6-4.

The world number two held serve comfortably to close out the first set.

Murray had battled hard to subdue Nicolas Mahut in two tie-breaks in the first round and initially he looked out of sync against Bedene.

Murray was on top without having to reach top gear and after breaking in the third game of the second set, he gifted the advantage back with a careless effort in the next game.

Murray saved that and it wasn’t until the eighth game of the opener that he forced break points of his own, and he was ruthless to take a pivotal 5-3 lead.

John Isner fired down 43 aces at Queen’s on Thursday and was still knocked out as Gilles Muller saved a remarkable 10 match points to progress to the quarter-finals.

But Murray was showing his prowess and having wasted a break point in the fifth game he was not to do the same in the seventh, pouncing of Bedene’s serve to lead 4-3 and he consolidated in comfortable fashion before closing out the match.

Bedene, meantime, has lost nearly as many matches as he has won in 2016 (W16-L14), and although his first round defeat of Benoit Paire was impressive, it was only his third grass-court match of the season after exiting Hertogenbosch in round two against Bernard Tomic last week.