Andy Murray will have the chance to avenge his 2012 Roland Garros defeat to David Ferrer after setting up a quarter final with the Spaniard following a four-set victory over Jeremy Chardy.
The British No.1 is unbeaten on clay in 2015 and stretched his winning run to 14 with victory in two hours 51 minutes, 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2.
Murray has met Ferrer four times on clay and never come out on top having lost their last encounter on the surface at the 2012 quarter finals in Paris.
While on paper Murray’s progress against Chardy was simple, there were some hairy moments for the Scot.
SCOTTISH ROAR: Andy Murray overcame a second-set wobble to beat Jeremy Chardy
Murray broke in the first game of the match but the Frenchman came back immediately with a break of his own before being edged out in the opening set.
But once again Chardy showed heart and he took a marathon 15-minute game at the start of the second to set him on his way.
Murray showed grit though and, after a choice word or two with himself, produced a clinical display to see out the match.
“Jeremy Chardy kept going for some big shots, he kept hitting the backhand down the line, and made it very difficult for me,” said Murray, who secured his 17th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final place.
“But I managed to be more solid in the third and fourth sets.
“I felt like I played a good match today, I was hitting the ball well, there was lot of very good rallies and I needed to play well to win today.
“But it obviously gets tougher every match. David Ferrer is someone I’ve never won against on clay before and I’ve lost to him at the French Open once so I’m going to have to play great tennis to win against him. He’s a fantastic player.”
Feature image courtesy of BBC, via Youtube, with thanks
