Murray, Davydenko, Verdasco make Valencia semis

Valencia:

Top-seeded Andrew Murray carried his comeback into the Valencia Open semifinals by cruising past Albert Montanes of Spain 6-4, 6-2 on Friday.

Murray was comfortable throughout his 73-minute match, breaking Montanes in the first game and the ninth for the first set, and racing 4-0 ahead in the second in his first event in six weeks. The Briton last competed in Davis Cup in September, then was sidelined by a wrist injury.

Gunning for his sixth title of the year, and first since August, Murray will meet another Spaniard, 2004 Valencia champion Fernando Verdasco, on Saturday

Fourth-seeded Verdasco eliminated seventh-seeded countryman Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2, tying their career matchups at 4-4.

Verdasco looked in command in the first set and an early break in the second put him ahead. A close line call in the sixth game of the second unsettled Robredo and a crosscourt forehand gave Verdasco another break point which he converted before serving out the match.

The victory also boosted Verdasco's hopes of securing one of the two remaining berths for the ATP Tour finals this month in London. Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko improved his chances by beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-4, 7-6 (3), but another contender, fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France, was set back in falling to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 6-4.

Davydenko and Youzhny meet in the other semi-final.