• Cincinnati Masters

Murray toils to victory over Gulbis

Andy Murray struggled in the Cincinnati heat © Getty Images

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Andy Murray battled back from a set down to beat a stubborn Ernests Gulbis to reach the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.

Murray, who claimed his first title of the year in Toronto last week, squandered three match points before taking a third-set tie-breaker to progress to the last eight with a 4-6 6-3 7-6(4) victory.

The British No. 1 was always playing catch-up in the first set after being broken in his opening service game, and trailed 4-1 after going another break down. Although he showed signs of battling back, he had left himself with too much to do in the Cincinnati heat, and Gulbis took the opening set.

Murray began to find his range in the second set, and although the opening exchanges went with serve, it was the world No. 4 who looked more likely to find a way through. A combination of well-placed strokes and speed across the court helped him forge a chance to break, and when Gulbis' smash went wide, he took a 4-2 lead, before serving out to love to move within sight of the second set.

After forcing the match to a decider, Murray grabbed the initiative, carrying his momentum into the third set, to break Gulbis in the opening game. But if Murray thought Gulbis was spent, the Latvian broke straight back

With neither playing willing to risk making an error that could prove costly in the decider, forays to the net were few and far between, and Murray was forced to save break point trailing 4-3, as a tie-breaker became increasingly inevitable.

Murray held his nerve to force the match to a tie-breaker, and took a 3-0 lead when Gulbis failed to convert a passing shot past the advancing Scot. Having done the hard work, Murray needed four chances to wrap up the match with an impressive first serve.

Murray will now meet an in-form Mardy Fish in the last-eight, after the American wildcard eased past Richard Gasquet in straight sets. Fish has beaten Murray on both their previous meetings this year.

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