Murray reaches semifinals at Paris Masters

PARIS (AP) Second-seeded Andy Murray overcame strong resistance from local favorite Richard Gasquet to reach the semifinals of the Paris Masters for the first time on Friday.

Playing in his sixth quarterfinal at the indoor tournament, Murray struggled with his first serve but managed to break the 10th-seeded Gasquet three times to advance with a 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3 win.

Murray had won his two previous matches in less than one hour. He was made to work hard by Gasquet and spent more than 2 1/2 hours on court.

Gasquet pleased the crowd with some spectacular one-handed backhands and broke in the third game of the deciding set but could not hold his next serve.

Murray made the decisive break in the eighth game then served out the match at love.