Andy Murray staved off set point to avoid a third-set decider against Vasek Pospisil, reaching the quarterfinals of the World Tennis Tournament on Thursday in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Next up for Murray is Gilles Simon of France. Defending champion Tomas Berdych also advanced.
"I moved well, and I felt like when I really needed to, I was able to improve my level and step my game up a bit," Murray said. "I found a little bit of extra intensity in the important moments."
Pospisil, of Canada, had a chance to force a third set, serving with a 5-3 lead. However, Murray turned the match at closed out a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
"He was in a great position. But we had a 30-shot rally on set point. It was a very physical rally, I was making him do more of the running," Murray said. "It took quite a lot out of him."
Milos Raonic of Canada and Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka also played Thursday.
Berdych, seeded third, beat Andreas Seppi 6-0 3-6 6-3. Next up: France's Gael Monfils.
Seppi "was not easy at all," Berdych said. "I had my game plan, which worked perfectly from the beginning. He just started to play much better and took his chance, the only one he had in the second set. But in the third set, I was able to get my chances and execute."
Murray, the tournament's top seed, won at Rotterdam in 2009.