Murray overcomes Edmund to advance at Queen's

Andy Murray saw off his second British opponent in a row as he beat Kyle Edmund in the Aegon Championships quarterfinals on Friday.

Murray himself had to wait nearly 10 years just to play a compatriot at any stage of a tournament, before Thursday's second-round win over Aljaz Bedene ensured he would face back-to-back Britons.

However, Murray, as he has done so many times before, stepped up a gear in the decisive set and broke twice to open a five-game lead from which Edmund couldn't recover. "Hopefully I'll play a little bit better tomorrow because of that".

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.

However, losing the second set fired Murray up, all right.

"I think he's very professional, he loves tennis, he's very focused on his career, so that's very positive", Murray, 29, said of Edmund.

"The last 18 months or so he's made big improvements, won a number of Challenger events and is winning matches consistently on tour now on all of the surfaces, which is very good. I thought I played well but Andy is so tough to beat because he makes it so hard for you when it really matters".

"It's important he's [Edmund] given time to develop in his own way, and that not too much pressure is put on him", Murray told the BBC on court.

"He's doing great, he's improving every year and he's got a really good team behind him".

"If he's given time and a little bit of space to keep developing, he can go very far".

"I was up I think 6-2 5-3 and then coming to serve for the match I felt nervous".

The victor of the match on Friday plays either the unseeded American Steve Johnson or the No5 seed Marin Cilic.