Tommy Haas will be 29 in three weeks’ time, a player who has promised so much for so long and now, in the autumn of his career, may be about to deliver on that promise. First, though, he has to figure out Andy Murray.

The most eye-catching of the quarter-finals at the Pacific Life Open today pits the German who has had the finest start of his 11 years on the ATP Tour against Murray, fast becoming the talk of the desert. They may not have that much in common in terms of approach to the game — Haas is all attacking verve and hyperactivity, Murray feeds off such opposition — but together they have rattled off some very decent wins in 2007.

Haas reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the second time before losing to Fernando González, of Chile, a result that he turned dramatically on its head with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the fourth round here. Murray moves remorselessly on, churning out big wins, making statements, gathering supporters. Both share an undisguised glee at shouting at their coaches.

“I see a little bit of myself in him,” Haas said. “He’s yelling a couple of negative words towards the box — it’s good to see I’m not the only one. He competes and he wants to win and he knows where the ball is coming to most of the time. Sometimes, he will walk around like he can’t go on any more and touches himself on the back or the leg, you think he’s going to retire any second.

“But at the same time, he moves around so well. He’s got great touch and competes hard, even though he lets his emotions out, which I kind of like.”

To reach his second Masters Series semi-final, Murray will have to sustain against the world No 9 the form he showed in beating Nikolay Davydenko, the Russian world No 4. To the British No 1, it comes down to the ability to play the big points better than his opponent, something that has marked out the greats down the years. “Think of Roddick pulling out those big serves when he was No 1, or Sampras hitting second-serve aces,” Murray said. “And now I have the physical strength to stay with these players.”

Murray, in tandem with Tim Henman, was beaten 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals by Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi, the No 1 doubles seeds.