Miami, Apr 2 (EFE).– Britain’s Andy Murray and American Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals of the Miami Open with three-set victories over Dominic Thiem and Sabine Lisicki, respectively.

Murray got off to a slow start in his Wednesday afternoon match and paid the price against the 21-year-old Thiem, one of the biggest surprises of this elite hard-court event.

But the Austrian ran out of gas in the second set, and that enabled the No. 3 seed to force a third set and then start dominating the match in the latter stages.

Next up for the Scotsman in Friday’s semifinals will be Tomas Berdych, who topped Argentine Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-4 thanks to his powerful forehand and his ability to find the lines on the big points.

Monaco tried to move his bigger opponent, but Berdych was equally effective whether hitting from a stationary position or on the run and took advantage of the cracks in the Argentine’s baseline game.

Williams, for her part, struggled in the first two sets before eventually coming alive in the decider to defeat Lisicki 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-3 early Wednesday afternoon.

The American No. 1 seed and seven-time Miami champion was unable to rely on her serve, her biggest weapon, committing six double faults and putting just 45 percent of her first serves in play.

The 33-year-old said afterward that she needed to “give 200 percent instead of 100 percent” to pull out the victory, the 700th of her illustrious career.

Next up for Williams on Thursday night will be Romanian No. 3 seed Simona Halep, who defeated American Sloane Stephens 6-1, 7-5 on Wednesday.

The other women’s semifinal will be played Thursday afternoon and pit Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro against Germany’s Andrea Petkovic.

In men’s quarterfinal action on Thursday, Japan’s Kei Nishikori will take on big-serving American John Isner in the afternoon match, while No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia will square off against Spain’s David Ferrer in the evening session. EFE