Daniil Medvedev is set for just the third grass-court semi-final of his ATP Tour career at the Mallorca Championships.
Medvedev, who has reached two hard-court grand slam finals, as well as winning last year's ATP Finals, has never been beyond the last four on grass. He has only done so once on clay.
The Russian will get another chance on Friday, though, against Pablo Carreno Busta.
That is his reward for beating Casper Ruud, who Medvedev acknowledged likely also does not favour the grass season.
"I don't think grass is his best surface, but in the first set he was playing top level and I couldn't get any break points," Medvedev said after beating Ruud 7-5 6-1.
"But as soon as he started serving a bit worse and making some errors, I tried to use it as fast as I could.
"It was important to win the first set and not in a tie-break, this gives me a boost of confidence."
Carreno Busta defeated Jordan Thompson in straight sets but was not followed into the semis by either of the other Spaniards in action.
Third seed Roberto Bautista Agut was toppled by Sam Querrey, as Feliciano Lopez lost to Adrian Mannarino.
At the Viking International in Eastbourne, there is an Australian in each semi-final after wins for Alex de Minaur and Max Purcell.
De Minaur wore down Vasek Pospisil 6-4 6-4 and now faces Kwon Soon-woo, who was similarly comfortable against Ilya Ivashka.
Purcell battled past Andreas Seppi, recovering from a tough second set in which he succumbed 6-1, but must now face another Italian.
Third seed Lorenzo Sonego secured his semis spot by blasting past Alexander Bublik 6-1 7-5.
Murray celebrates 1,000th ATP match with Queen's triumph over Popyrin
Andy Murray celebrated his 1,000th match on the ATP Tour with a battling victory over Alexei Popyrin at the Queen's Club Championships on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old became the fifth active male player to hit quadruple figures for tour-level matches, marking the milestone with a 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory to snap a four-match losing streak.
Murray holds the record for Queen's titles with five and will look to go deep in this tournament once more when he meets Australia's Jordan Thompson in the second round.
The two-time Wimbledon champion acknowledged the struggles of his lengthy career after this first-round triumph, though suggested he did not know about the landmark moment until just before play.
"I didn't realise, but my mum told me before the match that this was my 1000th match on the tour," Murray said in his on-court interview.
"A lot of matches and a lot of wear and tear in the body and it is not easy but I managed to push through."
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Richard Gasquet are the other active men's players to hit the 1,000-match mark.
That longevity has served well for Murray, who won his first match at the tournament in 2005 and holds a 32-9 record at the ATP 500 grass-court event since.
"During the match, it is difficult but great reward at the end for the hard work and effort I put into the match," Murray added.
"I have not got too many wins this year, it has been a difficult season but did well to come through in the end. Held quite a few tight service games and managed to serve it out well."
Alex de Minaur overcame Murray at Queen's last year en route to the final before losing out to Carlos Alcaraz, who also secured the Wimbledon title after.
Yet De Minaur will not have the chance to make the showpiece of the Wimbledon warm-up this time around, after losing out to Lorenzo Musetti.
The Italian swept the second seed aside with a 1-6 6-4 6-2 victory, teeing up a second-round meeting with Brandon Nakashima.
Osaka beaten by inspired Zheng serving display at Berlin Open
Naomi Osaka bowed out of the Berlin Open after falling short in a three-set thriller against an inspired serving display from Zheng Qinwen.
The former world number one battled, but ultimately came up short for the second time in two weeks, enduring a 6-4 3-6 6-3 defeat.
The Japanese found herself a set down following a break point claimed in the fifth game by her opponent but rallied in the second to take the encounter to a deciding set.
However, Zheng, who served 10 aces in the final set, proved too powerful for Osaka to secure a second victory over the Japanese after two hours and 10 minutes at the Steffi Graf Stadium.
Zheng will play Katerina Siniakova in the last 16 on Wednesday, with either Jessica Pegula or Donna Vekic awaiting should she progress.
Data Debrief: Acing it
The victory for Zheng saw her serve 23 aces against Osaka, the highest tally in a single WTA match since Rebecca Marino vs Caroline Garcia in Guadalajara in 2022 (24).
Her success with her serving saw Zheng win 88 per cent of her first serve points, winning 44 of 50 during the match.
Osaka beaten by inspired Qinwen serving display at Berlin Open
Naomi Osaka bowed out of the Berlin Open after falling short in a three-set thriller against an inspired serving display from Zheng Qinwen.
The former world number one battled, but ultimately came up short for the second time in two weeks, enduring a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 defeat.
The Japanese found herself a set down following a break point claimed in the fifth game by her opponent but rallied in the second to take the encounter to a deciding set.
However, Qinwen, who served 10 aces in the final set, proved too powerful for Osaka to secure a second victory over Osaka after two hours and 10 minutes at the Steffi Graf Stadium.
Qinwen will play Katerina Siniakova in the last 16 of June 19, with either Jessica Pegula or Donna Vekic awaiting should she progress.
Data Debrief:
The victory for Zheng saw her serve 23 aces against Osaka, the highest tally in a single WTA match since Rebecca Marino vs Caroline Garcia in Guadalajara in 2022 (24).
Her success with her serving saw Zheng win 88 per cent of her first serve points, winning 44 of 50 during the match.
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