Gonzalez will take on Slovakian fifth seed Dominik Hrbaty in Saturday's semis with Argentine second seed David Nalbandian coming up against Cypriot qualifier Marcos Baghdatis.

After celebrating a milestone win over compatriot Tim Henman in the tournament's opening round, Murray was unable to pull off a further upset against the erratic Gonzalez.

"I'm a bit disappointed because I thought I was serving as well as I did in the other matches, but not doing so well in the rallies," Murray told reporters.

"I'm happy with the two wins I had here but not with the way I played - but I suppose it's a good sign when you're beating top 50 players without playing your best tennis."

In an entertaining and evenly-balanced start to Friday's quarter-final, the 18-year-old dropped just two points in his first three service games.

Gonzalez then upped his game however, and was rewarded with a deserved and decisive break in the seventh game.

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Murray faced further pressure at the start of the second set and had to save eight break points in his first two service games before converting his first break point opportunity with a full stretch winner at the end of game six.

The hard-hitting Chilean struck back emphatically in the third set however -- breaking Murray twice while conceding just four points off his own serve.

Facing three match points on Gonzalez' serve, Murray managed to save two but was finally undone by a service winner.

NALBANDIAN CRUISES

Nalbandian had a much easier time, booking his semi-final berth with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan [Images].

The world number 10 needed just 58 minutes to wrap up a victory that keeps him on course for his fourth successive Swiss Indoors final.

Baghdatis -- the world number 85 - meanwhile overcame Argentina's Jose Acasuso 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 to secure his first ever place in an ATP semi-final.

Despite the gap between the two players in the world rankings, Baghdatis could provide Nalbandian with quite a test.

The former Australian Open juniors winner came close to an upset against the Argentine at this year's French Open -- taking the opening set 6-0 before losing the next three 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

"I played pretty well in that match, though at the start it was like Nalbandian wasn't there," the 20-year-old recalled.

"Then suddenly he was there and we had quite a fight. He's a great player who plays a lot of rallies and runs well, but I think I can find a solution on Saturday."

Nalbandian is hoping that his fresher legs will help carry the day. "Of course it helps playing a short match today as I know I have an advantage tomorrow," he said.

"He's coming from qualifying, having had a lot of matches and a lot of time on court. Tomorrow he doesn't have anything to lose though so maybe he will be a very tough opponent."

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