Andy Murray holds nerve to come through latest Battle of Britain

British number one beat a spirited Kyle Edmund to make the semi-finals of Queen's

Andy Murray commiserates with Kyle Edmund after their meeting in London on Friday (Getty)

The first all-British quarter-final on the main tour for 14 years lived up to expectations as Kyle Edmund pushed Andy Murray hard before experience got the better of youth here at the Aegon Championships.

Murray won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to earn a semi-final meeting on Saturday with Marin Cilic, but only after Edmund had underlined why he is regarded as one of the best players of his generation.

Edmund, aged 21, is often at his best on clay, but the world No 85 - who should climb into the top 70 for the first time next week - showed that he also has the potential to perform well on grass. His big serve and crunching forehands can be major weapons on any surface. Although his volleys are not up to the same standard, he showed an admirable willingness to try his chances at the net, while some of his approach shots were played with a subtlety that has not always been evident in his game.

Murray, who is aiming to become the first player to win this title five times, won despite a nasty fall in the second set which left him with a sore groin. He was particularly impressive in the way he upped his level in the third set, which he needed to do after Edmund’s big-hitting had paid off in the second.

“Kyle was hitting the ball big throughout the match, but at the end of that second set, when he went up, he was going for it,” Murray said. “His forehand is a big shot. That’s his main weapon.

“He has a big serve. When he’s landing first serves and then getting the first shot of the rally on his forehand he can dictate a lot of the points. If you want to get to the top of the game, you need to have weapons - and he has them.

Andy Murray is seekng a record fifth title at Queen's this weekend (Getty)

“He doesn’t have a real weakness from the back. His backhand is solid. He doesn’t make too many mistakes off that side. There are obviously things he’s going to continue to improve as well, but he is improving all the time.”

After a week spent dodging between the showers, the sun finally came out for the first all-British quarter-final at this level since Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski met in Adelaide in 2002.

Murray drew first blood, breaking in the third game with a winning forehand pass, but Edmund soon showed that he was not going to be intimidated by either his opponent or the occasion. In the following game Murray saved one break point with an ace but missed a backhand on the second.

At 3-3, nevertheless, Murray broken again, finishing the job with a dive-volley winner of which the watching Boris Becker would have been proud. “I know Boris talked about how he used to practise but I have never practised them,” Murray said. “That was just instinct on a big point. Thankfully I didn’t hurt myself, because if you don’t do it right, you can hurt your wrist or shoulder.”

Kyle Edmund displayed flashes of his potential in defeat to fellow Briton Andy Murray (Getty)

Having served out for the first set, Murray retrieved one early break at the start of the second set but was broken again after falling on game point at 2-3. Edmund, whose day had not got off to the best of starts when he was woken at 6.30am for the delivery of a dishwasher at his new flat in Wimbledon, served out to level the match, though he had to save three break points at 5-3.

Murray, however, responded in exemplary fashion. The 29-year-old Scot upped his game at the start of the deciding set and promptly won the first five games before Edmund could get back on the scoreboard.

After going 15-40 down when serving at 5-1 Murray could hardly have played the last four points of the match any better. An unreturned serve and a thumping backhand cross-court winner saved the break points and an ace and another unreturned serve secured the victory.

Edmund said afterwards that he was pleased with the way he had handled the occasion. He agreed that Murray had raised his level at the start of the third set but said that he had lost confidence in his movement at 3-0 in the decider when it started to rain.

“The set went really quickly but I was still trying to play my game,” he said. “Overall I was happy with the performance.”

Cilic, who came from behind to beat Steve Johnson 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, won the title here four years ago and lost to Murray in the following year’s final. The 27-year-old Croatian has lost 10 of his 12 meetings with Murray but beat him in Rotterdam two years ago and at the US Open in 2009.

Milos Raonic beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-4 to book his place in the semi-finals. The Canadian, who has recruited John McEnroe to his coaching team for the grass-court season, will now meet Bernard Tomic, who beat Gilles Muller 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.

Roger Federer beat Belgium’s David Goffin 6-1,7-6 at the Halle Open to secure a semi-final meeting with Alexander Zverev. Federer is aiming to win the title for the ninth time. Dominic Thiem will face Florian Mayer in the other semi-final.

Johanna Konta and Heather Watson, the two remaining Britons in the Aegon Classic at Edgbaston, both lost in delayed second-round matches. Konta was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer, while Watson lost 7-5, 6-4 to the Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova.

Konta was broken six times in her match, which lasted only 77 minutes. Watson’s match was tighter, but the Briton’s failure to convert more than one of her five break points proved costly against Strycova, who hit eight aces.

Strycova went on to beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2, 7-5 in her second match of the day and will take on Coco Vandeweghe in Saturday’s semi-finals. Madison Keys will meet Carla Suarez Navarro in the other semi-final.