Andy Murray fought though a roller-coaster finish while Rafael Nadal had to hold off a young pretender as both seeds managed wins into the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters yesterday.
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.
Nadal, the eight-time tournament winner, had to save 15 break-points against Dominic Thiem to avoid a second upset loss this season to the 22-year-old Austrian talent.
The Spanish fifth seed finally prevailed 7-5, 6-3 in two hours to put behind a semi-final loss he took against Thiem two months ago in Buenos Aires on clay.
Nadal will next play fellow Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka, who put away Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-2. Murray will take on the big serve of Milos Raonic in today’s quarter-final after the Canadian defeated Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5). Murray stands 5-4 over Raonic, and defeated the Canadian in an Australian Open semi-final in January.
Murray made a recovery from a set and two breaks down in the second set against Paire as he turned the tide in stuttering fashion against the Frenchman, who admitted this week that his tennis is plagued by doubts and a serious case of nerves.
He proved that point by double-faulting for the eighth time on a Murray match point to end the struggle after more than two and a half hours. The 22nd-ranked Paire also served twice for victory without success.
The Scotsman called his victory “a big win”.
“To win from 6-2, 3-0 down, two breaks, when you’re not playing particularly well, it’s a great effort. These matches are important. It would have been easy to lose today and get down on myself. But I kept fighting right the way through to the end,” said Murray.
“The second set was a lot of ups and downs. I didn’t feel like in the third set that was the case so much. It was a good one to get through because I could have easily lost today.
“Conditions were pretty quick conditions. It wasn’t wasn’t windy down on the court, not too hot. It was all right,” he added.
Paire ended with 52 unforced errors and 47 winners as he and Murray faced off for the first time.
Murray is under pressure this clay season, with title defences in both Munich and Madrid fast approaching.
The 28-year-old has shown only modest results so far in 2016, a season interrupted for almost a month by the birth of his daughter in February only a few days after losing the Australian Open final to Djokovic.
Murray remains the highest seed in contention this week in the Principality after Djokovic was knocked out in his opening match by Czech Jiri Vesely.
Murray, a 2009 and 2011 semi-finalist, is into his third quarter-final of the season.
He has now won his last 11 matches against Frenchmen since losing to Simon in Rotterdam quarters in February, 2015.

Sharapova still has to face meldonium hearing, says ITF
Maria Sharapova will get a hearing over a positive test for the now-banned medicine meldonium, the International Tennis Federation confirmed yesterday.
“In light of the recent notice from WADA regarding the process for dealing with cases involving meldonium, the ITF can confirm that the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme case involving Maria Sharapova will proceed to a hearing in accordance with WADA’s recommendations,” a statement from the sanctioning body said.
“The ITF does not intend to make any further statement until completion of this process due to the confidentiality of the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme.”
Sharapova, marquee player of the WTA, revealed six weeks ago that she had tested positive during January’s Australian Open for the medicine, which was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) from January 1. She was then suspended from the sport with immediate effect.
The WADA said on Wednesday that athletes with a meldonium level of below 1 microgram per millilitre could be cleared if they submitted the tests before March 1. Reports indicate it is not clear how long Latvia-developed meldonium actually stays in the body.
That technicality could eventually be enough to see five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova back on court later in the season.
Sharapova is among more than 170 athletes who have tested positive for the substance. WADA said in a statement that “a finding of no fault or negligence” could now be made in certain circumstances.
The sharp reversal of policy reveals that scientists remain at a loss over how long it takes meldonium to exit the body through urine (weeks or months).
Sharapova, the highest earning woman in all of sport, produced very low levels of the substance, which she said she had taken for a decade under strict medical supervision and on order of her personal physician.