(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-04 10:49

DOHA - Britain's Andy Murray overcame a sluggish start before sweeping past Sweden's Thomas Johansson to claim a place in the semi-finals of the $1.5 million Qatar Open on Thursday.

Britain's Andy Murray gestures after beating Thomas Johansson of Sweden during the quarter-final Qatar Open ATP tennis tournament in Doha January 3, 2008. [Agencies]

Murray, who will meet top seed Nikolay Davydenko in the last four on Friday, beat the former Australian Open champion 7-6 (7-4) 6-0.

In the other semi-final, defending champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia will meet Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.

Fourth seed Ljubicic overcame a spirited challenge from sixth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes, while Wawrinka ended the run of Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-3 6-0 in just over an hour.

The 20-year-old Murray, who lost the opening set to Rainer Schuettler on Wednesday, had another slow start against the Swede, who won the Melbourne Park grand slam event in 2002.

Johansson, who won the only previous meeting between the two at Queen's Club in 2005, matched last year's runner-up from the baseline in the opening set.

The Swede saved break points on his serve in two games before forcing the tie-break, but the Scot reeled off three points from 4-4 to wrap up the opener before speeding through the second to win in an hour and 28 minutes.

"He (Johansson) served really well in the opening set. Obviously, he won a high percentage of points on his first serve. I expected it to be tough and it was that way," Murray, the third seed, told reporters.

"I was more aggressive in the second set. I was also more confident. When he (Johansson) served I was aggressive in my returns. After that early break, I had the momentum and I saw his head go down," he added.

Russian Davydenko also started slowly against his Davis Cup team mate but he proved too strong, winning through 7-5 6-3 in an hour and 45 minutes to reach his first semi since Moscow in October.