- Murray beats Georgian second seed 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3
- Dan Evans also reaches last eight at Sydney International
After three hours and 13 minutes of scurrying from one end of the court to another in order to blunt one of the most devastating shotmakers in the game, Andy Murray survived to reach the quarter-finals of the Sydney International by defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a tense, quality battle that ended after midnight.
Despite the tremendous fight required to see out the match, that it took so long was primarily down to Murray’s own timidity when looking to consolidate a lead. Murray served for the first set at 5-3 and then 5-4 in the second, but each time Murray was dragged back into two tie-breaks, which he and the second seed split between them.