Andy Murray faces Croatian teenager Borna Coric in Thursday's quarter-final in Dubai
Thursday 26 February 2015 07:59, UK
Andy Murray continues his challenge for the Dubai Championship title with Thursday’s quarter-final clash against Borna Coric.
Live ATP Tennis
The Scot routed Joao Sousa 6-0, 6-2 in the previous round, but should receive a sterner challenge against the Croatian teenager, who has already proven himself against big-name opposition.
Last October, Coric produced a shock win over Rafael Nadal to reach the Swiss Open semi-final and Murray is refusing to look past the 18-year-old.
"He's obviously one of the young guys who's going to continue to get better every week with experience," the World No 3 told the official tournament website.
"He's going to be making improvements in his game and realising the things he needs to work on, if he wants to get to the top of the game. He'll be a tough opponent. He's had some good wins already against top players."
Top seed and world No 1 Novak Djokovic also returns to action following his 6-1 6-2 drubbing of Andrey Golubev.
The Serb struck 17 winners against the outgunned Golubev and admits he is gradually raising his game in the tournament.
“Having one match under my belt before today's encounter helped me to feel a bit more comfortable to move around on the court quicker, and I tried to take away the time from my opponent today,” he said.
“It was just a much better performance than yesterday. Hopefully I can improve as the tournament progresses.”
Djokovic will next face Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilhan, who produced an upset win over sixth seed Feliciano Lopez.
Roger Federer, the defending champion, marched into the next stage after winning 20 points in a row in a stunning victory over Fernando Verdasco.
The Swiss star produced a superb comeback while trailing 4-1 in the opening set, earning another encounter with Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Gasquet edged past Roberto Bautista Agut and will be hoping to avenge last year’s David Cup final defeat by Federer.
Centre court:
Borna Coric v Andy Murray (3)
Tomas Berdych (4) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Richard Gasquet v Roger Federer (2)
Novak Djokovic (1) v Marsel Ilhan
You can watch Andy Murray in action against Borna Coric, live on Sky Sports 3, from 11.00am on Thursday.
