The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Murray made to work before beating Lopez
Tennis: Top seed finally breaks down stubborn Spaniard to advance to last eight in Barcelona
World No 1 Andy Murray was given a good workout against Feliciano Lopez as he booked a place in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open with a hard-earned 6-4 6-4 win.
The 29-year-old Scot had been given a bye through to the second round and then saw Australian Bernard Tomic pull out of their scheduled contest on Wednesday because of a back problem.
The tournament’s top seed, though, eventually got the chance of another workout on clay when taking on Spaniard Lopez, who produced stubborn resistance before Murray produced the required response to progress into the last eight where he will meet either Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Roberto Bautista-Agut.
The opening set went with serve until Murray finally made the breakthrough in game eight to lead 5-3.
However, veteran Lopez, the world No 40, refused to be brushed aside easily, saving four set points after being 40-15 down before then breaking back himself.
Murray, though, regrouped and forced an immediate break chance in game 10, which Lopez saved with an ace before the British No 1 took his next opportunity after an hour on court.
Rather than fading, 35-year-old Lopez responded as he forced four break chances against Murray’s serve in game three before the Scot recovered.
Murray’s frustrations were threatening to boil over as he squandered five break opportunities against Lopez who levelled at 2-2.
However, Murray slowly started to deliver on his serve after moving 4-3 ahead and then to within touching distance of victory at 5-4 following successive love games. The world No 1 then kept the pressure on Lopez, and took his second match point chance following a wide backhand return from the Spaniard.
Dan Evans’ unlikely run came to an end with a third-round loss to fourth seed Dominic Thiem, from Austria.
The British No 3, who admits he is not a fan of clay, went into the tournament looking for his first ever ATP Tour victory on the surface.
He managed two, but Thiem proved a step too far despite another good performance from Evans.
Only a tie-break separated the pair in the first set but it was Thiem who took his chances in the second to win 7-6 (7/5) 6-2.