Top seeded wild card entry David Ferrer has advanced to the semifinals along with British No. 1 and second seeded Andy Murray at the Erste Bank Open in Austria on Friday.

The 32-year-old Spaniard went head-to-head with hard-hitting Ivo Karlovic in the first set that ultimately led to a tie-break where Ferrer edged out the Croatian 7-5.

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In the second set, Ferrer converted 12 of his 13 first serves and broke Karlovic once late in the set to clinch the win 7(7)-6(5) 6-4.

Karlovic dished out a total of 17 services aces compared to the five of Ferrer but Karlovic wasn't able to return much of Ferrer's serves.

World No. 5 Ferrer will now face fourth seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber who won an all-German encounter against fellow compatriot Benjamin Becker in two sets 6-3 7(7)-6(3).

Kohlschreiber converted a total of 11 services aces and broke Becker three times in a match that lasted an hour and 24 minutes.

This is Kohlschreiber's third semifinals appearance at the tournament but have yet to reach the finals.

Second seeded Murray had more of an easy matchup against another German Jan-Lennard Struff as he won the match in two straight sets 6-2 7-5.

Murray connected six service aces and broke Struff twice in both sets to advance to the semis and gain 45 points in the ATP Race to London.

The points Murray collected now puts him in 9^th place past Ferrer in the eight-man short list and is virtually at the heels of eighth placer Milos Raonic.

The Scot now faces Serbian qualifier Viktor Troicki who had a tough three set battle against Thomaz Belucci of Brazil 7(7)-6(4) 6(2)-7(7) 6-2 which took two hours and 27 minutes.

Along with 13 service aces, Troicki delivered 86 percent of his first serves and broke the Brazilian five times during the match.

"He's a very good athlete, he moves extremely well, and has a big serve," said Murray of Troicki. "He always makes you work for matches. We have had some tough matches, close matches."

TagsDavid Ferrer, andy murray, Milos Raonic