Britain's Andy Murray showcased his trademark fighting spirit to beat Argentine Pedro Cachin 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) and reach the quarter-finals at the Gijon Open, here on Thursday.After losing a 56-minute first set, the former World No 1 rallied to edge Cachin at the ATP 250 event.
In their first ATP Head to Head meeting, the Scot raised his intensity and refused to go away, twice rallying from a break down in the third set to eventually seal his 25th tour-level win of the season after two hours and 49 minutes.
"I think I served well in the second and third sets. I fought very hard," Murray said in his on-court interview."In the first set I wasn't playing my best and Pedro was serving very well for the first set and a half. I was really struggling to break serve.
I changed the way I was returning to give myself more opportunities to break. I fought very hard to come back from a break down twice in the third set," he added.Murray struck his flat groundstrokes consistently, hitting 31 winners and committing just 19 unforced errors, while he held his nerve in the third-set tie-break to advance to his fourth tour-level quarterfinal of the season.
The 35-year-old, currently No 46 in the ATP Live Rankings, is aiming to win his first tour-level title since he triumphed in Antwerp in 2019. Earlier this season, Murray reached finals on hard courts in Sydney and on grass in Stuttgart.
The 46-time tour-level titleist will next face third-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut or American Sebastian Korda.In other action, fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo moved past French qualifier Manuel Guinard 7-6(5), 6-2 to earn his first tour-level win since July, when he advanced to the last four in Hamburg.
The Argentine, who lifted his maiden tour-level trophy in Bastad in July, will next play Austrian Dominic Thiem following his one-hour, 48-minute victory.