British hopeful Andy Murray won his quarterfinal Thursday at the Olympics, delighting a Wimbledon crowd that featured Prince William and wife Kate.
Murray, seeded No. 3, became the first men’s semifinalist by beating No. 11 Nicolas Almagro of Spain, 6-4, 6-1.
Murray hit 15 aces to one for Almagro and never faced a break point. He had 29 winners and just seven unforced errors.
The Scotsman was runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon last month. His opponent Friday will be the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced to the women’s semifinals by beating No. 7 Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 7-5 under the Centre Court roof.
Kerber eliminated Venus Williams on Wednesday, but Azarenka feasted on the left-hander’s serve, winning more than half of those points and breaking six times.
Azarenka, who won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, seeks her first Olympic medal. The winner of the event will be a first-time women’s singles gold medallist.
Americans Bob and Mike Bryan advanced to doubles semifinals by edging Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (10). Neither team managed a service break, and the Bryans sealed the victory on their fourth match point when Erlich double-faulted into the net.
The twins, who are top-seeded, won the bronze in 2008. Both are also entered in mixed doubles. The United States was the only country to still have an entry in all five singles and doubles events.
