Andy Murray into last eight after seeing off US rival

Published on Thursday 18 August 2011 16:17

Andy Murray came through a challenging match with Alex Bogomolov Jr to claim his place in the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last night.

The fourth seed looked on course for an easy win after racing ahead in the opening set, but was pushed much harder by his American opponent in the second before wrapping up a 6-2, 7-5 victory.

Murray had to overcome a difficult start in his second-round meeting with David Nalbandian on Wednesday before recording a straight-sets victory.

But there were few signs of nerves from the Scot yesterday as he took the opening three games against the Moscow-born world No 50.

Murray then faced two break points in the next but brushed off the threat with some powerful winning forehands and an ace to take a 4-0 lead in the match. Bogomolov Jr finally got himself on the board in game five but Murray eventually served for the set, wrapping it up with another unreturnable shot.

The 28-year-old American had won their only previous meeting in Miami earlier this year but was struggling to find any rhythm in Cincinnati and was broken again at the start of the second set.

Murray's concentration then wavered in the next game, allowing Bogomolov Jr to level, but the Scot was gifted another break and a 2-1 lead following a double fault from his opponent. The world No 4 failed to make the most of his advantage, though, and allowed Bogomolov Jr to break back in game eight with a weak shot into the net.

Murray continued to dig deep as the set wore on and was rewarded in the 11th game with his fifth break of the contest thanks to a winning return.

That left the world No 4 serving for the match, and he secured victory in one hour and 41 minutes with an ace. Murray will face either David Ferrer or Gilles Simon in the last eight.

Meanwhile, world No 2 Rafael Nadal scraped into the quarter-finals after beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (11-9) in a fierce battle. The match was only the eighth to need three tie-breakers in the open era and first since 2008.

It was a gruelling contest in the Ohio heat for the Spanish pair that lasted three hours and 38 minutes and was decided by a mistake-filled third tie-break.

Nadal, who gave up three match points in the decisive tie-break, stuck with the task to finish off a determined Verdasco despite never finding his rhythm. While it was as close as could be, the game lacked the expected quality as Nadal made 41 unforced errors and Verdasco 59. Verdasco did, however, unleash 48 winners to Nadal's 29.

Nadal still had two fingers on his right hand bandaged to protect burned fingertips. The left-hander said he got burned by touching a hot plate at a restaurant earlier in the week. Nadal will face Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals after the American beat France's Richard Gasquet 7-5, 7-5.Czech Tomas Berdych easily dealt with Spain's Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 6-2.

In the women's event, Serena Williams' premature departure could pay big dividends for Sam Stosur.

Stosur, capitalising on an unexpected day of rest, returned to the court and ousted fifth-seeded Li Na of China 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The 10th-seeded Australian was scheduled to face Williams on Wednesday in the round of 32 before Williams withdrew after aggravating a right big toe injury.

"I wasn't complaining that (Williams) pulled out," said Stosur, who lost to Williams in the final at Toronto last week. "I had a pretty easy day, which was nice, considering the week I had before."

Stosur became the first woman to reach the quarter- finals and Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova followed when she beat eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, Hantuchova improving her all-time record to five wins and one defeat against Bartoli.

French Open champion Li Na will lead China's first foray into the mixed team Hopman Cup at the start of next season.

The women's world No 5 will join Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the event in Perth, Australia from 31 December to 7 January.

Kvitova will be playing with men's world No 9 Tomas Berdych in a strong Czech Republic team.