The last time Andy Murray stared across the net at Fernando Verdasco, dreams of a first Grand Slam title melted away in the Australian Open heat. Just over two months later, a quietly determined Scotsman ensured that a frustrating loss wouldn’t happen again.

Murray–victimized by Verdasco in the fourth round at the year’s first major tournament–gained a measure of revenge by thumping Verdasco, 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. The authoritative Thursday night win, achieved in a tidy 75 minutes, moves the fourth-seeded Murray into Friday’s second semifinal against Rafael Nadal-slaying youngster Juan Martin Del Potro.

Two weeks ago, Verdasco fell to Roger Federer in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals at Indian Wells. This quarterfinal matchup in Miami contained even more intrigue, given the fact that Verdasco’s sensational semifinal run in Australia was built on the back of a five-set triumph over an ailing Murray, who had to stay in Australia for several days after the tournament ended. Global tennis observers wanted to see if the late January jolt delivered by the ascendant Verdasco–a 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win–was more the product of the Spaniard’s quality, or Murray’s subpar fitness level.

Safe to say, it didn’t take long for an answer to emerge at the Crandon Park Tennis Center.

Murray might not have served extremely well (he connected on only 55 percent of his first serves), but the Scot spanked the ball with much more conviction. The backbone of Murray’s game is his return of serve, and while Verdasco threw down a statistically impressive 73 percent of his first serves, Murray usually offered a more than credible reply. When this match was done and dusted, Murray won a majority of Verdasco’s service points (24 out of 44), which produced five breaks of serve for the No. 4 player in men’s tennis. Unlike the women’s game, the ATP Tour requires first-serve dominance, so when Verdasco couldn’t threaten Murray in his service games, the No. 8 seed had nowhere to turn. After the day session’s two matches (Kuznetsova-Azarenka and Nadal-Del Potro) filled up nearly six hours of eye-pleasing action, Murray made the trains run on time with his quick and easy conquest.

When Murray faces Del Potro in the semifinals, the tennis community will see a rematch of a spirited four-set quarterfinal from last September’s U.S. Open in New York. While that matchup could prove to be interesting, it won’t possess the sex appeal of the Nadal-Murray matchup tournament organizers were hoping for. The Murray-Delpo duel will also lack the box office sizzle that tonight’s quarterfinal with Verdasco initially promised.

At any rate, you can’t blame Andy Murray for any of these developments, even if they might not satisfy the ticket-buying public in South Florida. Murray held up his part of the semifinal bargain, and is playing the steady tennis of a man destined for Grand Slam glory. It’s also not Murray’s fault that this quarterfinal confrontation fizzled before spectators who surely hoped for more drama. Plainly put, Verdasco’s Australian Open looks like more and more of an aberration with each passing moment. Once the hottest thing in men’s tennis, Rafael Nadal’s 25-year-old compatriot has abruptly cooled off several weeks after his magical fortnight Down Under.

Go ahead, call Andy Murray a buzzkill for so clinically dispatching Fernando Verdasco. The new nemesis of Roger Federer, who doubles as the most dangerous new force in men’s tennis, isn’t interested in entertainment value. He’ll merely try to reach his first Miami final Friday night, two weekends after going the distance at Indian Wells.

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