Andy Murray defeats Marin Cilic to reach the last eight in Paris
Third seed Andy Murray progressed to the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters after struggling to beat Marin Cilic in the tournament's third round on Thursday 11 November.
Murray came close to losing the first set, which went to a tie-break before Cilic claimed the second but failed to win the decider, when Murray edged on top to win 7–6 (8–6) 3–6 6–3 after two hours and 18 minutes.
"I just found a way to win, which is really important," Murray said after the game, happy to have gone through despite not playing at his best. "I served well in the final set but he played all the good points. He had the chances. He served for the first
set. He was up 4-0 in the tie-break."
Cilic goes ahead in the first set
The pair were closely matched in the opening four games before Cilic broke when the world number four failed to hit a forehand shot.
The Scot defended well following the break, but could not stop Cilic from holding his serve as the Croatian earned a 5–4 lead.
But in the tenth game, Murray advanced from the baseline to meet Cilic's serve, and his opponent could only follow up by hitting the ball into the net.
Murray could have sealed the game at 6–5, but his forehand failed him as the game went tie-break, finishing 7–6 to the Scot after he defended a set point from Cilic.
Perhaps strengthened from the tie-break, the Croat came back in the second set and needed only one break in the sixth game to earn a 5–2 lead after some unstoppable forehand strokes.
With Murray trailing from that point onwards, the stable Cilic claimed the set after hitting his tenth ace of the match to force a decider.
Murray stronger in the decider
Murray completed his tenth ace in the first game of the third set as he opened strongly. Having served first, Murray needed only one break to take control, and it came in the fourth game.
The third seed challenged what seemed to be another ace from Cilic, and the hawkeye proved Murray right as he gained a 3–1 lead.
The 23-year-old, who injured his wrist in the second round of the tournament but seems to have recovered, held his remaining service games and claimed the final game without gifting Cilic a point.
Murray, who is due to feature at the ATP World Tour Finals later this month, will face Frenchman Gael Monfils in Friday's quarter-finals. Monfils defeated Spain's Fernando Verdasco on Thursday.
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