Andy Murray is through to the quarter finals of the Madrid Masters after beating Marin Cilic 7-5 7-6 (7-2).
British number one books place in last eight
Andy Murray is through to the quarter finals of the Madrid Masters after beating Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-5 7-6 (7-2).
It was not plain sailing for the world number four however as Murray appeared to be bothered by his long-standing knee problem and had to fight back from being broken early on.
But the Scot improved as the contest progressed and, with the help of a match-defining 10th game in the first set, he went on to claim the match in nine minutes short of two hours.
Murray was unable to hit the ball as effectively as he did in his second round match against Simone Bolelli, but his mental strength told in a close encounter.
The 21-year-old felt the conditions on court Pista Alcala difficult to adjust to in the early goings.
"He had three points to win the set and I just had to try and hang in," Murray told
Sky Sports
"I wasn't moving well, this court - the ball bounces much lower than on centre court, the movement was a bit different.
Focused
"He's a tough guy to play against he hits the ball very flat, he has a big serve, for a big guy he moves well and I just had to try and stay focused."
However, Murray did admit his focus had temporarily waned in the second set tie-breaker when the Scot had to ask the umpire what the score was.
"I didn't even know what the score was at the end of the match and I didn't even realise I was serving for it," he said.
"I thought the score was 4-2 but then went down the other end where there was a scoreboard and saw it was 5-4. I asked the umpire if it was the score because I had no idea.
"It's the first time that has happened to me on the (ATP) Tour."
And Murray played down fears that his grimace over his troublesome knee was anything serious.
"At the beginning of the second set it felt a little bit better," he said. "When that happens I bend down and do some cracks and it starts to ease off.
Early break
The Madrid fourth seed enjoyed a flying start during Tuesday's opening match against Bolelli and was leading 6-0 2-1 before the Italian retired injured, but here it was a different story as he was broken in only his second service game.
It then looked ominous for Murray as the 6ft 6in Cilic powered down an ace on his second serve to go 15-0 up in the next game, and although the Scot hit back to claim the next two points, his opponent held to go 3-1 up.
There was little sign of the drama to come as the next five games went with serve before Cilic, with the score at 5-4 in his favour, looked poised to take the set as he raced into a 40-0 lead in the 10th game.
But Murray went on to stage a brilliant recovery in what was almost certainly the turning point of the match.
He rattled off four successive points before later sealing the break with a cross-court backhand, letting out a shout of delight as the ball flew beyond the reach of his giant opponent to level the set up at 5-5.
Murray still looked troubled by his knee problem but he ensured his good work did not go to waste as he battled hard to hold his next service game, before then breaking Cilic again to take the set when the Croatian put his final shot into the net.
Second set
The first seven games of the second set went with serve without too many problems, but the increasingly dominant Murray then established three break points in the eighth.
Cilic managed to save all three of them en route to winning four consecutive points, but Murray was not to be denied and he earned the first break of the set when the Croatian put a forehand into the net to see the Scot take a 5-3 lead.
Murray could not finish the match off on his own serve though as Cilic broke back immediately, and the world number 24 then held to send the set to a tie-break.
The tie-break was barely a contest though as the wilting Cilic made a series of unforced errors to enable Murray to cruise to a 7-2 win and victory.
Murray will now play Gael Monfils for a place in the semi-finals after the Frenchman knocked out eighth seed Andy Roddick 6-4 3-6 6-3.
