ANDY Murray insists his semi-final clash with former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero will be the acid test ahead of Wimbledon – and the British number one has vowed to pass with flying colours.

The 22-year-old Dunblaneborn star breezed through his AEGON Championships quarter-final yesterday as he left big-serving American Mardy Fish all at sea with a 7- 5, 6-3 victory.

Murray, who is top seed at Queen’s in the absence of world number one Rafael Nadal, is yet to drop a set in west London and yesterday broke Fish three times without reply.

And with just nine days to go, the countdown to Wimbledon is getting louder.

Murray is ranked third in the world and in the public’s eyes it is a matter of when and not if he end’s Britain’s 32- year barren spell at the All England Club.

The Scot has eased himself into his grass court season with a first-round bye and three comfortable victories over Italy’s Andreas Seppi, Spain’s Guillermo Garcia- Lopez and Fish.

But today Murray will face Ferrero – dubbed the Mosquito – an unknown quantity as the Scot has never faced the 29-year-old Spaniard before.

And Murray is convinced he will have to crank it up a notch when he faces the 2003 French open champion if he is to book his place in tomorrow’s final.

“Ferrero played very well in his match and he’ll be a big threat for me,” said Murray – who is bidding to become the first Brit to lift the trophy aloft at Queen’s.

“I saw some of the match on the TV, and he was hitting the ball very well from the baseline.

He’ll be a different opponent from Mardy, who had a very good serve and came to the net a lot.

“But I served very well against Mardy and if I can repeat that against Juan Carlos and keep that standard up for the rest of the month then I’ll be happy.

“I need to make sure the rest of my game is at its best as well – there’s going to be a lot more rallies because he stays so deep and he’s got a great return. It’s not going to be easy by any means – it will be a great test for me to see where I am.”

Murray’s victory ensures it is the first time the Scot has reached the last four at Queen’s, having withdrawn at the quarter-final stage with an injury a year ago.

While Nadal and Roger Federer put their feet up ahead of Wimbledon, Murray has now played three singles matches on grass with another two potentially in the offing.

But the British number one, who reached the last eight at the All England Club a year ago, insists he is 100 per cent focused on becoming the next king of Queen’s.

“I feel like I’m going to head to Wimbledon in good shape but I felt good last year,”

added Murray.

“It’s just different preparation.

Last year I had a lot of time to get ready for it whereas this year that isn’t really the case.

“But I won’t know how I’m feeling about Wimbledon until the day before – I don’t know now, because I’m in the middle of this tournament but things are moving in the right direction.”

■ Leading life assurance and pensions company AEGON is lead partner of British Tennis and is backing the sport at all levels, from grass roots to world class tennis events. For tickets and further information visit www.lta.org.uk