Murray avoids going the distance, defending champ Berdych through

Peter Hanson

Murray avoids going the distance, defending champ Berdych through image

Andy Murray staved off set point to avoid a third-set decider against Vasek Pospisil, while Tomas Berdych also progressed to the quarter-finals of the World Tennis Tournament on Thursday.

Top seed Murray is playing in his first tournament since suffering a disappointing Australian Open final defeat to Novak Djokovic, but he showed no signs of being affected when he romped past Nicolas Mahut on Wednesday.

And the Scot was equally impressive as he disposed of Pospisil 6-3 7-5 in one hour and 44 minutes in the second-round clash in Rotterdam.

Murray, the victor of the 2009 tournament, needed 38 minutes to clinch the opener, but was facing the possibility of a deciding set when Pospisil had the chance to serve out the second when leading 5-3.

However, the Canadian was no match for Murray in a series of hard-fought rallies and the two-time grand slam winner fought back to win in straight sets.

Next up for Murray is Frenchman Gilles Simon, the eighth seed reached the quarter-finals for the second year running by beating compatriot Jeremy Chardy 6-4 6-3.

Elsewhere, defending champion Berdych was involved in a back-and-forth encounter with Andreas Seppi, the Czech eventually coming through 6-0 3-6 6-3.

After steamrollering Seppi in just 22 minutes to clinch the first set, Berdych was pegged back in the second after dropping serve in the fourth game.

The decider proved just as close, Berdych - who landed 10 aces in the contest - stole a 3-1 advantage before fending off break point when leading 4-2.

Berdych wasted one match point on Seppi's serve at 5-3, but the third seed comfortably served out for the win to book a last-eight tie with Gael Monfils.

Later on Thursday, fourth seed Stan Wawrinka showed his battling qualities by coming from behind to beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez - winner of the ATP Zagreb Indoors last week - 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-2.

Completing the evening's matches was second seed Milos Raonic, who needed just one hour and 16 minutes to see off Simone Bolelli 6-3 7-6 (7-2).

The Canadian was ruthless on serve, landing 17 aces and winning 82 per cent of first-serve points.

Peter Hanson