Playing on clay and under a closed roof, Andy Murray did just fine. The second-ranked Murray advanced to the semifinals at the Madrid Open on Friday, beating Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last four for the second consecutive Masters tournament on clay. The match at the ''Magic Box'' was played with the roof closed because of rain. ''They were different conditions, playing under the roof, and I've adjusted to them well,'' said Murray, who never faced a break point. ''That was the most pleasant thing for me, because I've only played maybe three or four indoor clay matches in my life. Not easy conditions, against a tough opponent, and I played well.'' Murray, the defending champion in Madrid, will next play either fifth-ranked Rafael Nadal or Joao Sousa. Murray lost to Nadal in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters last month, but he defeated the Spaniard in straight sets in the Madrid final last year, when he won his first Masters title on clay. ''He's definitely playing better, for sure, but I also think that I'm playing better than I was at this time last year,'' Murray said. ''You have to keep improving. There are things in my game that are much better than at this stage last year. I need to learn from the match that I played against him and hopefully have a good performance tomorrow.'' Murray, who has won six of his last seven matches on clay, needs to win the title this weekend to avoid being overtaken by Roger Federer in the rankings. (For more sportsnews andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/208210.aspx
