Murray denies Kubler an all-Aussie semi at Surbiton

Instead, Murray fought back from a set down on Friday to reach the last four, where he will meet Jordan Thompson, who edged an all-Australian clash against Rinky Hijikata.

Thompson, the reigning champion in this part of southwest London, beat Hijikata 7-6 (7-1) 6-2 in his quarter-final.

Murray, 36, scrapped his way past Kubler 3-6 6-3 6-4 as he continued his preparations for Wimbledon next month but was given a tough workout by the Queenslander.

"I knew it was going to be hard," said Murray. "He plays very well on the grass - he made the fourth round of Wimbledon last year and beat some really good players along the way.

"He played well. He has a lot of variety in his game, he moves well. He was one of the best juniors in the world but has had some issues with injuries. He's doing very well now - always tough to play against."

Both Murray and Kubler, 30, battled at a high intensity despite a gusting wind and in hot, sunny conditions.

Kubler's fast serve paid dividends as he took an early 3-2 lead and eventually clinched the opening set 6-3.

The players were locked at 3-3 in the second when Murray took charge with a six-game winning streak.

Too often, the No.2 seed's precision proved decisive or forced an error at the end of a numerous long rallies and Murray clinched the second set with an ace.

He then won the first 10 points of the third set, and although Kubler was one point from pulling a game back, Murray came out on top after a series of long rallies and stormed into a 3-0 lead.

Kubler was forced to take a medical break for treatment on his lower back, but returned with some fizzing forehands to claw the score back to 3-2.

But he couldn't make further inroads on the Murray serve and the Scot served out comfortably to take the third set 5-4.

Saturday's second semi-final will be between Germany's Jurij Rodionov and Zizou Bergs, of Belgium.

Australian Associated Press