Saturday, August 5 2006 15:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Scottish teen sensation Andy Murray missed out on a possible "Battle of Britain" semi-final against Tim Henman at the ATP Washington Classic. Now Murray will try to deny a potential all-Russian final.

The 19-year-old Scotsman advanced to the semi-finals of the 600,000-dollar US Open warmup event Friday with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over American Mardy Fish, sending eighth seed Murray against Russian seventh seed Dmitry Tursunov.

Tursunov, coming off a runner-up effort last week in Los Angeles, defeated Henman 6-3, 6-2, to extend a mastery that saw him oust the Englishman from this year's Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon in 2005.

Murray, playing his first tournament under new coach Brad Gilbert, is ranked a career-high 35th after a fourth-round run at Wimbledon while Tursunov is at a career-best 29th.

"My game has gotten better every match," Murray said.

"I really wasn't making many mistakes," he said.

Russia's Marat Safin and France's Arnaud Clement will meet in Saturday's other semi-final. Clement beat Australian third seed Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 while Safin outlasted South African Wesley Moodie 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (11/9).

Former world number one Safin, ranked 92nd, had not won two matches in a row since April after a left knee injury that sidelined him for six months.

"It's the best tournament I've played for more than a year," said Safin.

"I'm very happy to finally find my game. I found the winning spirit which is the key to success," he said.

Murray, who won his only ATP title in February at San Jose, roared to a 5-1 second-set lead before withstanding a fightback that put Fish one point from equalizing.

"It was probably the best six games I've played since I was on the tour," he said of his second-set start.

"Apart from the last three games, it was a great match," he said.

The lackluster finish did not impress Gilbert, whose success guiding Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick to Grand Slam titles and top rankings has boosted expectations for Murray.

"He was a little disappointed. He thought I got a little tentative out there at the end, which I did," Murray said.

"He started to play aggressively and I started to play more defensively," he said.



After only a week on the job, Gilbert has shown Murray how to better exploit the weaknesses of an opponent and boost his own game. Serve work and fitness training will start in earnest after the US Open.

"When you have someone like him in your corner, it gives you more confidence," Murray said.

Henman, 31, would have matched his best showing of the year by facing Murray. The 2003 Washington winner likes what he sees in his heir apparent.

"It's early days but you have the ingredients of a great relationship, a great coach and a great player," Henman said.

They will face a great test in Tursunov, who broke 64th-ranked Henman three times and imposed his will upon the veteran.

"When he's playing like that, he's going to be a tough opponent for anyone," Henman said.

"When he's hitting that big and hitting on the corners, there's very little you can do. You feel like a spectator out there," he said.

Clement had lost all seven prior matches against Hewitt before his victory, which came a day after he snapped an 0-3 career hex at the hands of Slovakian fifth seed Dominik Hrbaty.

"It's very special for me," Clement said.

"We have similar games but he was always a little bit better than me. Two or three times it was close, but always a little better at the important moments. Today was a little bit different. This was the biggest one. I was very frustrated," he said.

Moodie had not gone so deep in an ATP draw since winning his only tour title last October in Tokyo, but could not conquer Safin, firing 11 aces and five double faults while Safin had five aces and no double faults.

"He's playing really well. He's not making too many mistakes," Moodie said.

"If he is ready to play he will be dangerous," he said.