Andy Murray closing in on second trophy of 2023 after beating Jordan Thompson to reach Surbiton final

Andy Murray's preparations for Wimbledon are looking more promising by the day after a straight sets victory over Jordan Thompson saw him through to the final of the Surbiton Trophy on Saturday afternoon. The veteran Scot broke a four-year trophy drought at the Open du Pays d’Aix in May and charged back into the top 50. Ad However, Murray must continue to win if he is to achieve his goal of a seeded entry to Wimbledon.

TennisMurray fights back to see off Kubler for spot in semi-finals of Surbiton TrophyA DAY AGO His performance on Saturday augurs well. Murray broke Thompson, the Australian world No. 76, in just the second game before holding his own serve to go into a 3-0 lead.

Thompson steadied the ship, holding a quick service game to love, before breaking Murray, again without dropping a point. From there both players swapped service games, with Thompson twice more holding to love while Murray did so once, until the tiebreaker. Murray took a vital early break before leaning on his own serve to go 4-1 up.

Thompson again rallied, breaking back to level the tiebreaker at 4-4 but the Australian dropped a decisive late point which allowed Murray to serve out the set. Murray took another early break in the second set, claiming Thompson's serve in the first game. Another break had Murray 5-1 up and seemingly in sight of the final before the Australian rallied once more to give him a scare.

Thompson held serve before breaking to pull Murray closer, but the Scot served out the match in an exciting final game. With the Australian serving, Murray raced into a 15-40 lead but almost blew his advantage as Thompson fought back for deuce. Murray steadied again though, breaking his Australian opponent for the third time in the set to