Andy Murray found a place in an ATP quarter-final for the first time in half a year as the Scot defeated Alexander Bublik 6-3, 7-6(4) on Thursday at the ATP Stuttgart tournament.
The unseeded Scot ranked 68th, overcame the at-times unorthodox game of the Kazakh who beat him in the Indian Wells second round last March.
Murray duplicated his last-eight place from Sydney in January as he booked a win in one and three-quarter hours on the German grass.
“It’s nice to be back at this stage,” the former No. 1 said. “This was a solid win and I’ll try and push through to the semis.
“When I was down in the second set it was frustrating, I was thinking of what I could do differently.”
Murray added: “Conditions were tricky with an inconsistent wind.
“Throw into the mix a pretty fast court and an opponent playing in that (unorthodox) style and it’s difficult to get a balance between going for shots and giving him a chance to miss.
“I felt I did well.”
Murray won the first set but had to battle back from 5-2 down in the second before taking victory in a tiebreaker.
