Robin Soderling and Andy Murray progress at the China Open
Robin Soderling is through to the quarter-finals of the China Open after defeating Nicolas Almagro on Thursday, while Briton Andy Murray also made it through against Albert Montanes.
Soderling took three sets to overcome the Spaniard, eventually winning 7–5 4–6 6–3 in Beijing.
"I executed my game plan really well. I served well and stayed aggressive because you have to against Nicolas. He hits the ball really hard and plays fast," Soderling said after the victory.
The first set proved a service stalemate between the pair, but eventually Soderling got two chances to break at 6–5, after which Almagro's forehand failed to clear the net.
The Swedish third seed gifted Almagro two break points in the second set, and the Spaniard took advantage of the second to win it 6–4.
Soderling recorded 22 aces in the hard-hitting encounter, and Almagro to hit the ball wide with a strong backhand at 3–2 in the third set. Once he was up 4–2, Soderling held his serve to claim the third and final set.
The Swede, who reached the final of the last two editions of the French Open, will now faced Spaniard David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.
Murray contains Montanes after shaky first set
Murray, seeded second for the tournament, struggled momentarily against Montanes but eventually came away with a win after the two sets ended 7–5 6–3.
"It took me a little bit of time to get into the match. It was different conditions today compared to the other day when I played," Murray said of the foggy conditions after the match.
"I was a little bit more solid than he was, especially in the second set, and that was probably the main difference, but there wasn't too much in it."
Murray came close to losing the first set after Montanes' cross-court backhand earned him a break in the fifth game, but the Scotsman fought back to with a clear, defensive strategy. Murray led Montanes to 30 unforced errors during the game.
It was Montanes' unnerved performance that let Murray off the hook in the first set, as the 23-year-old broke the Spaniard's serve twice in succession to claim it.
At the start of the second set, Murray hit a double fault that allowed Montanes break. The Spaniard held his serve until the fourth game, when Murray broke back.
Despite conceding two aces against Montanes — a rare occurrence for a player of Murray's defensive merit — he managed to see out the match comfortably.
Britain's tennis hope will now face Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in Friday's quarter-final.
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