Andy Murray came back from one set down to beat Pedro Cachin 2-6 7-5 7-6 (7-3) after 2 hours and 49 minutes in their first head-to-head match reaching the quarter final at the Gijon Open ATP 250 Tournament.
Murray rallied from a break down in the third set to clinch his 25th ATP Tour level match of the season.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist wasted five break points in the first set.
Cachin earned an early break in the first game in the opening set. Murray was not able to convert three break points, as Cachin came through a tough second set to hold serve with four aces. Cachin broke again in the fifth game to open up a 5-1 lead and held on his final service game to close out the opening set 6-2.
In the second set both players went on serve until the 12th game. Cachin made two unforced errors, as he was serving to take it to the tie-break handing Murray a seventh break point. Murray converted his break point to win the second set 7-5 forcing the match to the third set.
Both players broke in the first two games of the decider before Murray held serve to take a 2-1 lead after a 17-shot rally.
Cachin went up a break for the second time, but Murray broke back again to draw level to 3-3. They went on serve en route to the tie-break. Murray brought up five match points. Cachin saved two of them before Murray converted his third chance to seal a hard-fought win after 2 hours and 47 minutes.
Murray hit 31 winners to just 19 unforced errors to reach his fourth quarter final of the season. The 46-time tour-level is chasing his first title since he won the Antwerp tournament in Antwerp in 2019. Earlier this year Murray reached two finals in Sydney on hard court and Stuttgart on grass.
“I think I served well in the second and third sets. I fought very hard. In the first set I wasn’t playing my best and Pedro was serving very well for the first half and a half. I was really struggling to break serve. I changed the way I was returning to give myself more opportunities to break. I fought very hard to come back from a break down twice in the third set”, said Murray.
Murray will take on Sebastian Korda, who came back from one set to beat Roberto Bautista Agut 5-7 6-4 6-4 in 2 hours and 45 minutes. Korda now leads 2-0 in his two head-to-head matches.
Andrey Rublev overcame ilya Ivashka 6-3 5-7 6-4 after 2 hours and 28 minutes. Rublev earned a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Ivashka saved a total of five break points in the sixth and eighth games, but Rublev held his serve on his second set point.
Rublev went up a 4-2 lead with a break in the fifth game. Ivashka broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Ivashka earned a second break in the 12th game to win the second set 7-5.
Ivashka saved three break points to hold serve in the first game of the decider. Rublev earned the decisive break in the seventh game and held his final two service games to close out the match improving to 3-0 in his head-to-head matches against Ivashka. Rublev hit 51 winners to Ivashka’s 13. The Russian player is currently sixth in the ATP Race to Turin and is aiming to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the third consecutive year. He will take on Tommy Paul in the quarter final. Fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo edged past Frenchman Manuel Guinard 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in 1 hour and 48 minutes to score his first ATP Tour win since July, when he reached the semifinal in Hamburg. Cerundolo set up a quarter final match against 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem.
