Andy Murray [ Images ] overcame a sluggish start before sweeping past Sweden's Thomas Johansson to claim a place in the semi-finals of the $1.5 million Qatar Open in Doha on Thursday.

Murray, who will meet top seed Nikolay Davydenko [ Images ] in the last four on Friday, beat the former Australian Open [ Images ] champion 7-6 (7-4), 6-0.

In the other semi-final, defending champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia [ Images ] will meet Switzerland's [ Images ] Stanislas Wawrinka.

Fourth seed Ljubicic overcame a spirited challenge from sixth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany [ Images ] 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes, while Wawrinka ended the run of Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-3, 6-0 in just over an hour.

The 20-year-old Murray, who lost the opening set to Rainer Schuettler [ Images ] on Wednesday, had another slow start against the Swede, who won the Melbourne [ Images ] Park Grand Slam event in 2002.

Johansson, who won the only previous meeting between the two at Queen's Club in 2005, matched last year's runner-up from the baseline in the opening set.

The Swede saved break points on his serve in two games before forcing the tie-break, but the Scot reeled off three points from 4-4 to wrap up the opener before speeding through the second to win in an hour and 28 minutes.

"He [Johansson] served really well in the opening set. Obviously, he won a high percentage of points on his first serve. I expected it to be tough and it was that way," Murray, the third seed, told reporters.

"I was more aggressive in the second set. I was also more confident. When he [Johansson] served I was aggressive in my returns. After that early break, I had the momentum and I saw his head go down," he added.

Russian Davydenko also started slowly against his Davis Cup team mate but he proved too strong, winning through 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 45 minutes to reach his first semi since Moscow [ Images ] in October.