ATP Tour: Andy Murray defeats Alexander Zverez in final-set decider to reach Qatar Open quarter-finals

Andy Murray kept his nerve to reach the quarter-finals at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha with a narrow victory over fourth seed Alexander Zverev.

Murray came through a final-set tie-break to beat Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in the opening round, with the Scot having to dig deep again to claim a hard-fought 7-6 2-6 7-5 victory over Zverev in Doha.

Zverev battled back from losing the opening set in a tie-break to claim an early break in the second on his way to taking the last-16 clash to a decider, where Murray was twice two points from defeat when he served to stay in the match during the 10th game of the final set.

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Murray survived to level at 5-5 and broke the former world No 2 in the next, before closing out another impressive win in a match lasting over three hours.

Speaking on court afterwards, Murray said: "Obviously I would like to win the matches quicker, but Alex is a top player, he's a great competitor.

"He always fights right to the end - it's one of his biggest strengths - so even once I got that tight first set, he kept going for it and the third set, I was really hanging on. He was creating more of the chances and was the better player for large parts of that.

"But I managed to stay strong, kept fighting and got the break at the end and closed it out well."

The 35-year-old will face French qualifier Alexandre Muller in the last eight after he upset eighth seed Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2 6-4.

Medvedev battles past Broady

Daniil Medvedev battled past qualifier Liam Broady 6-4 6-3, wrapping up victory against the world No 147 in one hour and 32 minutes to set up a last-eight meeting against Australia's Christopher O'Connell.

Second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime fought back from a set down to beat Australian Jason Kubler 4-6 6-1 6-4 and reach the quarter-finals.

The Canadian recovered after a slow start to reach the last eight after two hours and 16 minutes on court in his Doha debut.

Auger-Aliasime will meet seventh seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for a place in the semi-finals, while top seed Andrey Rublev saved three match points on the way to a three-set win over Tallon Griekspoor.

Rublev, who won this event in 2020, lost Wednesday's opening set 6-1 in just 22 minutes, but took the second by the same scoreline to level the match.

Russia's Rublev was broken in his first service game of the deciding set and Griekspoor went on to serve for the match at 5-4 up, but the Dutchman failed to convert his chances.

Rublev broke back and went on to win the ensuing tie-break for a 1-6 6-1 7-6 victory, setting up a quarter-final meeting with Czech Jiri Lehecka.

Norrie through to Rio quarters; Alcaraz advances

In Brazil, British No 1 Cameron Norrie reached the quarter-finals of the Rio Open with a battling straight-sets victory over home hope Thiago Monteiro on Wednesday evening.

Norrie needed six match points before ultimately wrapping up a 7-5 7-5 victory in a gruelling two hours and 30 minutes.

The tournament's second seed will next face Bolivia's Hugo Dellien in the last eight - he is ranked 111th in the world.

Elsewhere, top seed - and world No 2 - Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the second round in Rio, with the defending champion closing out the last two games of a match suspended from the previous day due to rain.

The 19-year-old Spanish sensation completed a 6-4 6-4 win over Mateus Alves to set up a second-round tie with Italy's Fabio Fognini, who beat Tomas Barrios Vera 6-2 6-3, in the top half of the draw.

Alcaraz said after the win that he has his eyes on Novak Djokovic's No 1 world ranking in 2023.

"Truth is a beautiful year awaits, with beautiful tournaments," he said. "It is true there will be a little pressure to defend important titles. I will have to play at a good level but, as I always say, I play every match thinking I have to enjoy it, much beyond the results.

"I have to try to win more Grand Slam titles, reclaim the No 1 position. That's what I am hoping for this year."