Benneteau injuries hand Murray win

The world No 31 suffered elbow and wrist injuries during a heavy fall in game 11 and, although he tried to continue, Benneteau eventually threw in the towel with the Scot leading 6-5. It was a sad end to what had been an enthralling match which concluded with third seed Murray through to face Berdych of the Czech Republic.

Benneteau, a former French Open quarter-finalist, caused Murray problems throughout a set in which both players were aggressive. “He was playing well, he was going for his shots and making it tough,” Murray said.

The pair had played each other twice before, with Murray winning both matches.

And the world No 4 broke in just the second game of the opening set after Benneteau hit a forehand long.

But the Scot found life tough on his next service game and a series of sloppy errors allowed Benneteau five break-point opportunities, with the Frenchman taking advantage on the fifth when Murray put a forehand wide.

The players continued to entertain the crowd with a mixture of tense rallies, wonder shots and wild returns as they battled to gain the upper hand.

Murray, who had beaten Viktor Troicki in just 67 minutes in the previous round, showed signs of improvement when he held serve to love in game seven. However, drama followed in the 11th game when, with Murray leading 30-0 on serve, Benneteau slipped and landed awkwardly while chasing a wide forehand.

The Frenchman collapsed in agony and a lengthy delay followed as he received treatment and some heavy strapping to his right ankle.

Benneteau decided to continue, although Murray quickly served out the game to take a 6-5 advantage.

The trainer then reappeared to assess Benneteau’s right wrist and forearm, which was also causing the player discomfort. More strapping was applied, but Benneteau looked in some pain and admitted defeat soon after.

It later emerged that Benneteau had fractured his right elbow and sprained his right ankle and is now in danger of missing the French Open, which starts in five weeks’ time. “The worst thing is the fracture, which means at least three weeks of immobility. I will then have to get the feeling back in my elbow,” a dejected Benneteau said. “A lot of things crashed with me when I fell,” Benneteau said. “I think it’s finished for Roland (Garros).”

The 30-year-old Frenchman still hopes to play at the London Olympics.

“The first thing I thought about when I fell down was ‘the games [are finished]’,” Benneteau said. “But I will start working on my ankle on Monday. I’ll do all I can [to be ready].”

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic played just hours after learning about the death of his grandfather and coped with his grief to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the quarter- finals.

After clinching victory on his first match point, the top-ranked Djokovic crouched over with his hands on his knees as Dolgopolov applauded him at the net. Djokovic then appeared to wipe away tears with his forearm before pointing with both hands to the sky as he stood on centre court for a few moments.

Fourth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France also advanced to the last eight by beating No. 13 Fernando Verdasco of Spain 7-6 (7), 6-2, after twice coming off for rain delays.

He next plays ninth-seeded Gilles Simon in an all-French quarter-final after Simon beat No. 7 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. Tipsarevic won just one point on his first serve in a dismal first set, then hit nine aces in the second set.

Murray returned to court later with brother Jamie to face the top-seeded American brothers Mike and Bob Bryan but the Scots went down 7-5, 6-4.