Andy Murray Troubled By Marin Cilic

Andy Murray was once again made to battle at the Paris Masters as he need three sets to see off Marin Cilic.

The Croat has been a tough player for Murray in the past, dumping him out of the US Open in the third round in 2009, and it was Cilic who made his move first in the opening set.

And early break of the Murray serve saw Cilic open up a 4-2 lead and looked like he was going to take the opening set.

But Cilic got tight when he served for the set and a break by Murray saw the set back on serve, and they were both locked together at 6-6.

But Cilic put that disappointment behind him and opened up a 4-0 lead in the tie break, only to let Murray back in as he levelled at 4-4.

Cilic had another set point at 6-5 but was unable to convert once again and Murray went on to edge the breaker 8-6 and take the opening set.

Into the second and Cilic continued to battle, despite the disappointment, as he was all over Murray's serve, breaking in the sixth game.

That break was enough for him to take the set and the match was all square. But Murray hit back at the beginning of the third as an early break saw him open up a 3-1 lead.

With the break under his belt Murray never looked back as his serve improved and he wrapped up a 7-6 (8/6) 3-6 6-3 to book his place in the quarter final.

Speaking to Sky Sports 4 after the match he said: "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 and I just managed to find a way to win, which was very important."

"Sometimes this year I haven't done that when I haven't been playing my best. It was similar to a lot of the matches I played last year, where I came through long three-set matches, and that's definitely a positive.

"When he served for the first set he made quite a few quite bad mistakes. It's one of these courts, against him, if you let him dictate - which I did most of the time - he was making me do a lot of running.

"In that game I managed to get a little bit more depth, get the ball through the court a bit and he made a few mistakes. He hasn't played that well the last few months but he's obviously very tough."

In that quarter final he will face flamboyant Frenchman Gael Monfils as he came through in three sets against Fernando Verdasco, ending the Spaniard's hopes of qualifying for London.

It was a closely fought affair as the first two sets went to a tie break, and the spoils were shared between the two players and a deciding set was needed.

Roared on by the crowd it was Monfils who snuck a tight third set 6-7 (4/7) 7-6 (7/2) 7-5 to set up the clash with Murray later tonight.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw