Title holder Andy Murray beat fellow racquet-trasher Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the semifinals of the Japan Open on Friday in a match which had both men at boiling point.

Briton Murray faces sixth seed Milos Raonic on Saturday after the big-serving Canadian squeaked by third seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 in an epic struggle.
Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus beat Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-4 to reach the last four.

Meanwhile, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek overcame a second-set lapse to defeat Andy and Jamie Murray 6-4, 3-6, 10-2 and enter the semifinals of the doubles event on Friday.

Sania-Nuria advance

Sania Mirza on Friday earned the opportunity to end her 2012 season with a title win as she reached the summit clash of the China Open with her partner Nuria Llagostera Vives in Beijing.

The fifth seeded Indo-Spanish pair downed the sixth seed team of Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia and Jie Zheng of China 7-5, 6-1 in the semifinals of the $4,828,050 hard court event.

Meanwhile, Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi carshed out of the men’s doubles event with a 2-6, 6-7 (8-10) defeat at the hands of Argentine Carlos Berlocq and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.