In their first ATP Head to Head meeting, the Scot raised his intensity and refused to go away, twice rallying from a break down in the third set to eventually seal his 25th tour-level win of the season after two hours and 49 minutes
Andy Murray. Pic/AFP
Britain's Andy Murray showcased his trademark fighting spirit to beat Argentine Pedro Cachin 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) and reach the quarter-finals at the Gijon Open, here on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
After losing a 56-minute first set, the former World No 1 rallied to edge Cachin at the ATP 250 event.
In their first ATP Head to Head meeting, the Scot raised his intensity and refused to go away, twice rallying from a break down in the third set to eventually seal his 25th tour-level win of the season after two hours and 49 minutes.
"I think I served well in the second and third sets. I fought very hard," Murray said in his on-court interview.
"In the first set I wasn't playing my best and Pedro was serving very well for the first set and a half. I was really struggling to break serve. I changed the way I was returning to give myself more opportunities to break. I fought very hard to come back from a break down twice in the third set," he added.
Also Read: Gijon Open: Murray beats Fokina in opening round
Murray struck his flat groundstrokes consistently, hitting 31 winners and committing just 19 unforced errors, while he held his nerve in the third-set tie-break to advance to his fourth tour-level quarterfinal of the season.
The 35-year-old, currently No 46 in the ATP Live Rankings, is aiming to win his first tour-level title since he triumphed in Antwerp in 2019. Earlier this season, Murray reached finals on hard courts in Sydney and on grass in Stuttgart.
The 46-time tour-level titleist will next face third-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut or American Sebastian Korda.
In other action, fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo moved past French qualifier Manuel Guinard 7-6(5), 6-2 to earn his first tour-level win since July, when he advanced to the last four in Hamburg.
The Argentine, who lifted his maiden tour-level trophy in Bastad in July, will next play Austrian Dominic Thiem following his one-hour, 48-minute victory.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever