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.
Murray entered the Spanish tournament to build up match time as he continued his recovery from an elbow injury which saw him return to action last week in Monte Carlo after more than a month on the sidelines.
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 eventually produced the required response to progress into the last eight where he will meet either Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Roberto Bautista-Agut.
Third seed Rafael Nadal remains on course for a 10th Barcelona title, advancing to the quarters with a routine 6-3 6-4 victory over Kevin Anderson.
It was Nadal’s 50th victory at the tournament he has won nine times and the Mallorcan never looked in danger against the world No.66, forcing 10 break points throughout the match.
Nadal, who was only able to take two of them against the big-serving South African, admitted that rain throughout the morning meant the newly-renamed Rafa Nadal Court was moving slower than usual and will be hoping for better weather when he takes on South Korea’s Hyeon Chung on Friday.
“They weren’t the best conditions for me. I much prefer it when the ball is doing more,” Nadal said. “It wasn’t easy. He’s a really tall player who hits the ball well in comfortable positions. I tried to make him take the ball on the move in order to make him less comfy.”
Chung sprung an upset to make the last eight when he dispatched Germany’s world No.21 Alexander Zverev 6-1 6-4.
British No.2 Dan Evans’ campaign came to an end at the hands of Austria’s Dominic Thiem 7-6 6-2 who will face Yuichi Sugita in the quarters after the Japanese knocked out home favourite Pablo Carreno Busta.
