ANDY MURRAY continued preparations for his Australian Open return with a hard-fought victory against Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round of the Sydney Tennis Classic.
This was a much stiffer examination than his first-round win against world number 345 Viktor Durasovic on Tuesday, with the three-time grand slam winner progressing 6-7 (4) 7-6 (3) 6-3 after over three hours on court.
The match did not look like it would take so long when Murray raced into a 4-1 lead after half an hour.
He led 5-2 and served for the opening set but some carelessness set in and Basilashvili battled back to go 6-5 ahead, forcing Murray to serve to stay in the set. The 34-year-old did so, but lost the tie break as he crashed a backhand into the net.
The second set went with serve until Murray again got the first break to take a 3-2 lead. He held serve to make it 4-2 before squandering his opportunity to serve for the set in the 10th game, as Basilashvili levelled things up at 5-5 once more.
Murray had to serve to stay in the match at 6-5 down but was able to before levelling things up in the tie break.
The former world number one was again first with the break of serve in the deciding set to lead 3-0. Basilashvili had to work hard to avoid a second break in the fourth game but managed to stay in the match, which remained on serve until Murray served it out.
However, he had to save a break point to earn victory, which came when the Georgian hit a forehand return into the net on Murray’s second serve.
Murray joins fellow Briton Dan Evans in the quarter-finals after he cruised to a straight sets victory over Spain’s Pedro Martinez.
The British third seed was a class above against his 61-ranked opponent, dominating on both sides of the court en route to a 6-2 6-3 victory.
Evans converted all four of his break point opportunities and only gave up eight unforced errors as he continued his strong run of form.
He will face the winner of sixth seed Dusan Lajovic and French-American Maxime Cressy’s match.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here