Murray Makes Battle of the Brits Semis, Team ‘Peace’ Lead ‘Kindness’

Andy Murray carved out a straight-set win over James Ward to make it to the semifinal of the Battle of the Brits while Sofia Kenin combined with Bethanie Mattek-Sands in Charleston to give their Team Peace an 8-6 advantage over Team Kindness.

Murray Fitness Tested But He Comes Through

At Roehampton, Murray was in a must-win match against Ward after having lost to Kyle Edmund yesterday and he came through with flying colours. Not only did he win in straight sets, but he also came back from a break down in the second set and gave ample proof of his fitness by playing his third match in as many days.

Having beaten Liam Broady in straight sets on day one, Murray was put through the test on the second day by Edmund in which he was taken to three sets before he was beaten. This is why all eyes were on how he manages to pull through on the third day against Ward. The 33-year-old won 6-3, 7-5 after being down 2-4 in the second set.

And as far as his fitness is concerned, he looked good with his movements on the court, even winning two games which lasted 13 and 11 minutes respectively on his opponent’s serve.

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Murray, who later spoke to the broadcaster and said he delivered his best movement on the court on the day, will now take on the highest-ranked player in the competition, Dan Evans.

Evans routed Cameron Norrie in another match of the day winning 6-3, 6-3 to take the pole position in the other group.

Also qualifying for singles semifinals were Kyle Edmund and Paul Jubb.

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Team Peace Lead 8-6

Rain was the theme of the tournament on days one and two but things got rolling properly in Charleston on the third day with the previous matches completed and the start of the two-point encounters. Matches in this Credit One Bank Invitational competition are played on a sliding scale with wins on the first two days accounting for a point apiece, on the next two days worth two points and on days five and six worth three points respectively.

And it was Team Peace skipper Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who combined with the Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin to edge out Madison Keys and Victoria Azarenka in three sets.

This was after Jennifer Brady had beaten Azarenka in the first match of the day before Amanda Anisimova and Sloane Stephens proved to be too good for the pair of Eugenie Bouchard and Danielle Collins. Keys defeated Caroline Dolehide, Alison Riske had a narrow win over Emma Navarro and Bouchard made heavy weather of beating Leylah Fernandez.