MIAMI: World No.4 Andy Murray booked his semifinal berth at the Miami Masters on Wednesday, rallying for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Austrian Dominic Thiem.

The third-seeded former champion will face eighth seed Tomas Berdych after the Czech dispatched Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-4 to extend his perfect record against the Argentine to 7-0.

Murray, who won title at Crandon Park in 2009 and 2013, was initially stunned by the clean and powerful one-handed backhand of the 21-year-old Thiem, who has looked strong in Miami after coming into the tournament with a 3-5 record in 2015.

“I expected a tough match, he’s beaten some very good players this week,” said Murray, who needed one hour and 44 minutes to seal the win. “He’s a very big hitter of the ball, a very strong guy and he moves extremely well.

“When you let him dictate the points, he hits the ball as hard off each side as anyone. He made me do a lot of running.”

Thiem, ranked 52nd in the world, now stands 1-7 against top-10 opponents.

But he surprised Murray in the opening set, breaking for 3-1 on his way to winning the first frame.

“I would’ve liked to have started the match a little bit better, but with his game style, if you’re not, like, right on it from the beginning, he’s an extremely tough, tough guy to play against,” Murray said.

“Before this week I would have given a lot for the quarter-finals, but now of course in the first moment I’m a little bit disappointed, especially as I won the first set,” Thiem said. “I played a good match.

“But I will leave Miami positive for sure and with a good feeling for the claycourt season.”

Serena to face Halep after 700th match win

Serena Williams marked another milestone punching her semifinal ticket with her 700th career match win, a 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 6-3 triumph over Sabine Lisicki.

Williams will face a familiar foe for a place in the final, taking on popular Romanian Simona Halep, a 6-1, 7-5 winner over Sloane Stephens.

World No.1 Williams became the eighth player to win 700 WTA matches. Martina Navratilova owns the most match wins, with 1,442.

“I didn’t know I had 700, now I just want to keep going, doing the best that I can,” said the 33-year-old American, who was feted with a cake from tournament organizers after the victory.

“(I’m) just staying positive and winning as much as I can,” added Williams, who grabbed her 19th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this year.

Third-seeded Halep dominated Stephens, racing to a 6-1, 3-0 lead before the American dug in. Stephens won five of the next six games to take a 5-4 lead in the second but couldn’t force a third set.

“I’m really happy I played like this, it was an amazing match for me,” Halep said. “I played my best till 3-0 in the second set, and then I lost the rhythm a little bit.

“She changed the tactic and it was more difficult for me to hit the ball. But I’m really happy that I could finish in two sets and to stay focused until the end.”

Halep has some history with Williams. The Romanian is the last woman to beat the US superstar on the WTA tour, humbling the world No.1 6-0, 6-2 in the round robin phase of the WTA Finals in Singapore in October.

Williams rebounded quickly — beating Halep 6-3, 6-0 in the final days later.

“I have just to play aggressive against Serena like I did today at the beginning the match,” Halep said. “I think this is the most important thing to have to the chance against her.”

Williams and Halep were to have faced off in the semifinals at Indian Wells a fortnight ago, but Williams withdrew from the match with a knee injury.