Andy Murray through to Surbiton Trophy final

<p>Andy Murray advanced to the Lexus Surbiton Trophy final with a 7-6 (5) 6-3 win over defending champion Jordan Thompson.</p>

<p>Two-time former Wimbledon champion Murray - who has taken a wildcard entry for next week's Rothesay Open Nottingham - looked in control of the first set when, helped by a fine backhand volley, he moved into a 3-0 lead.</p>

<p>Australian Thompson, though, regrouped to capitalise on some unforced errors by Murray to break back and then level the match at 3-3.</p>

<p>Murray held to love to leave Thompson serving to stay in the set, which he eventually did after fending off a fightback having been 40-15 ahead.</p>

<p>Murray faced more pressure in an important hold at 6-5 and Thompson then held to love to force a tie-break.</p>

<p>Murray took a 2-0 lead with an early mini-break and moved 4-1 up after stretching to make a wide return.</p>

<p>Thompson, though, broke back to level at 4-4 after a lengthy rally.

As in previous matches, Murray again gave himself a stern talking-to, which helped bring up a set point at 6-5 when Thompson returned into the net and he took advantage by firing down an ace.</p>

<p>There was a flashpoint during a close opening game of the second set. With the scores at deuce, Thompson became frustrated after a call of 'out' which came from the crowd, so was overruled by the chair umpire and play went on as Murray took the point.</p>

<p>The Australian continued his complaints to umpire Robert Balmforth as the players sat under umbrellas during a brief rain break.</p>

<p>When play resumed - with a warning to the crowd against further such outbursts - Murray eventually forced home the break and held to lead 2-0.</p>

<p>Murray broke in the fifth game to move 4-1 ahead when Thompson sank another return into the net - and the Australian then got a warning for ball abuse as his frustrations boiled over again.</p>

<p>A love service game moved Murray to the brink of victory but Thompson broke in the eighth game. Murray, though, eventually got the job done when taking a third match point chance to seal a place in Sunday's final, against either Austrian Jurij Rodionov or Belgium's Zizou Bergs.</p>

<p>"It was nice to get through in straight sets today," Murray said in his court-side interview broadcast by the LTA.</p>

<p>"It was a very tight first set then in the second I improved a bit, started hitting the ball a bit better in the back of the court, so hopefully I can continue that tomorrow in the final.</p>

<p>"Jordan is a top grass-court player. He won here last year and made the finals in Nottingham, so he has had some good wins on this surface. I expected a tough one - I definitely got that.</p>

<p>"The last couple of matches have been good, against very good grass-court players, very experienced on this surface, so to come through them is very positive.</p>

<p>"To get the opportunity to play in the final tomorrow is great, I am looking forward to it.</p>

<p>"It has been a while since I won a tournament on home soil and hopefully I can do that tomorrow."</p>

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