Murray reaches 1st grass-court final at Queen’s after beating Ferrero

Murray beats Ferrero to reach Queen’s final

LONDON — Andy Murray reached his first grass-court final by beating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-4 Saturday at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club.

The top-seeded Murray is trying to become the first British winner of the pre-Wimbledon tournament since Bunny Austin in 1938. He will play Andy Roddick or James Blake in the final.

“I thought it was a good match,” Murray said. “I served very well in the first set. The second set was very close with long rallies and close games and I was obviously happy to win in two sets. It was a very tough match.”

Murray put Ferrero under pressure right from the start, breaking to lead 1-0 when his opponent netted a backhand.

Murray then raced to a 5-1 lead, breaking a second time at 3-1 when a forehand from Ferrero clipped the net cord and landed long.

In the second set, Ferrero saved five break points in his first two service games to take a 2-1 lead, but Murray broke to go up 4-3 before closing out the match.