Andy Murray of Britain plays a return to Canada’s Milos Raonic during their quarterfinal match of the Monte Carlo Tennis Masters tournament in Monaco, Friday, April 15, 2016.
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Murray, who was inconsistent in his previous two matches, did not face a break point against the big-serving Canadian and also broke his serve five times.
“To win from 6-2, 3-0 down, two breaks, when you’re not playing particularly well, it’s a great effort”.
“I was getting a good read on the serve and, when he missed the first serve, I was being very offensive on the second serve return and putting him under pressure”. “It would have been easy to lose today and get down on myself. But I kept fighting right the way through”. “But now I have the chance to get better”.
Paire had made twice as many winners as Murray, but nearly twice as many errors too-among them seven double faults.
Murray, seeded second and target man of the week after the second-round elimination of Novak Djokovic, scratched out a narrow 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Benoit Paire.
Murray was pushed by the Canadian in the opening game, but after holding serve, the two-time Grand Slam champion found his stride and earned a double break to take a one-set lead.
“I’ve definitely been a little bit flat since the Davis Cup really”, Murray said Tuesday.
The Spanish fifth seed, who has struggled for form in the last 18 months, looked back to his best as he beat French Open champion Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4 in their quarter-final. His serve, which had been so shaky against Paire, was on song and he did not have to save a single break point all match.
Murray had an even closer match, but he also managed to reach the quarterfinals, winning 19 of 29 points at the net.
In what no doubt was the best Murray performance of the year, the Brit destroyed the tenth seed for a 6-0 second set without facing a break point.
Since losing his first 12 matches against Nadal, Wawrinka has won three of their past five encounters, including the final of the 2014 Australian Open, his first major.
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France’s Gael Monfils overcome Djokovic’s conqueror Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2, which saw him set up a clash against Spain’s Marcel Granollers, who defeated Belgium’s David Goffin 7-6, 6-4.
