Murray breezes past Almagro

British No.1 sets up quarter-final showdown with Soderling

Last updated: 18th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Murray breezes past Almagro

Murray: Eased past Almagro

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British No.1 Andy Murray is through to the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after Nicolas Almagro hobbled out of their fourth-round tie.

Murray, seeded fourth, was in complete control as he moved into a 6-2 1-0 lead when the unseeded Spaniard was forced to retire with an ankle injury.

Almagro had already called a medical timeout at the end of the first set - and he quickly called it quits after struggling in the opening game of the second.

World No.40 Almagro had started the match strongly as he broke Murray with a string of winners.

The Scot responded well to break to love before cranking up the pressure on Almagro - with errors starting to plague the Spaniard's game.

Almagro won just 33 per cent of points on his own serve, hit 16 unforced errors and was broken three times as Murray won the first set.

Almagro immediately called for the trainer at the end of the set for treatment on his left ankle - and although he attempted to battle on, he offered his hand after Murray held his serve in the next game.

Murray will now face sixth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets to reach the last eight.

The Swede, a former French Open finalist, rattled of a 6-3 6-4 victory.