Murray seals 'important' victory

British number one Andy Murray blamed over-hydration for the discomfort which threatened to derail his Sony Ericsson Open title bid.

Murray, the 2009 champion, made it through to the semi-finals in Miami with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Janko Tipsarevic, setting up a last-four clash with Rafael Nadal, who later saw off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 5-7 6-4. But it was far from easy as the Scot battled illness in a lengthy match, frequently complaining he was struggling to keep fluids down.

Murray believes the problem was down to drinking too much before the match, telling uk.eurosport.yahoo.com: "I have this thing that tests how hydrated you are, which I used that for the match, and [afterwards] I was very hydrated, even though I'd drunk nothing the last couple of sets."

He added: "So I don't know if I drunk too much beforehand and kind of over-hydrated and my stomach was filled with liquid. Each time I took a sip I wanted to burp, basically.

"I drank very, very little the last two sets. It must have been something to do with that.

"It was so hot and humid, and to come off the court hydrated after not really drinking would probably suggest that I had drunk way too much."

Murray added on www.atptour.com: "[The] match was really important for me to get through after how it was going."

He continued: "[They were] tough, tough conditions. But I thought I struck the ball pretty well from the back of the court.

"I was hitting it pretty clean but needed to make better shot selection.

"Because of the wind, I was maybe trying to hit it too close to the line and not building the points as much I needed to. So when I did that, I did a bit better."