Madrid Masters (3rd Round)

Murray, Del Potro Advance To QFs; Simon Saves 2 M.P.

Fourth seed Andy Murray (pictured) battled his way into the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid quarterfinals with a 7-5, 7-6(2) win over Marin Cilic of Croatia in one hour and 52 minutes on Thursday. The Scot, who is No. 4 in the ATP 2008 Race and has already qualified for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai in November, improved to 44-14 on the season. He has won three ATP titles at Doha (d. Wawrinka), Marseille (d. Ancic), ATP Masters Series Cincinnati (d. Djokovic) and a runner-up finish at the US Open (l. to Federer) this year. New Haven titlist Cilic dropped to a 35-23 season record.

Murray conceded that he was somewhat troubled by a knee injury, but vowed to push through the discomfort as he attempts to win a second consecutive ATP Masters Series title. "I´ve had it a lot of times this year and I just have to try and find a way to get through. It´s not like I am doing myself a whole lot of extra damage, I just need to make sure that I deal with it properly after the match. As long as the pain is bearable I will try to play with it."



Murray next faces Gael Monfils, who withstood 13 aces and saved seven of eight break points faced to defeat eighth seed Andy Roddick 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Roddick had faced just two break points till midway through the final set, but in the eighth game of the decider Monfils converted his first opportunity of the game to go ahead 5-3, and then served out the match.

The Frenchman has now won his past three encounters with Roddick and leads their career series 3-1. Monfils, who reached his first final of the year last week in Vienna, will attempt to reach his second ATP Masters Series semifinal (Roe, 2006). Before this week he had not won a match in two prior appearances in Madrid.

Monfils vs Murray head-to-head breakdown

Ninth seed Juan Martin del Potro moved to within one point of No. 7-placed David Ferrer of Spain in the ATP 2008 Race, after the Argentine beat seventh-seeded compatriot and defending champion David Nalbandian 6-4, 6-2 in 85 minutes. The 20-year-old del Potro clinched four straight titles at Stuttgart (d. Gasquet), Kitzbuhel (d. Melzer)—both on clay—then back-to-back hard-court crowns at Los Angeles (d. Roddick) and Washington (d. Troicki) before making a US Open quarterfinal exit (l. to Murray). Earlier this month he finished runner-up in Tokyo (l. to Berdych). By advancing to his first ATP Masters Series quarterfinal, del Potro improved to 41-10 on the season. Nalbandian, who has won Buenos Aires (d. Acasuso) and Stockholm (d. Soderling), dropped to a 35-13 mark.

DEUCE: On The Rise... Juan Martin del Potro

Frenchman Gilles Simon (pictured right) lived dangerously for a second time this week, as the Nice native saved two match points against American qualifier Robby Ginepri in a 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(6) victory. Simon, who squandered a match point while serving at 5-4 in the third set, saved two match points in the deciding tie-break. Ginepri, who was attempting to reach his first ATP Masters Series quarterfinals since 2006 Madrid, missed two opportunities at 6-4 and 6-5 in the tie-break. The 23-year-old Simon added 10 points to his ATP 2008 Race total to move two points clear of Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Simon, who is now up to No. 11 in the ATP 2008 Race, improved to 43-22 on the season highlighted by three ATP titles at Casablanca (d Benneteau); Indianapolis (d Tursunov) and Bucharest (d Moya). Simon saved four match points against Russian Igor Andreev in a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(7) first-round win on Monday.

Spaniard Feliciano Lopez reached the semifinals of his hometown event for the third time, after beating No. 10 seed and Tennis Masters Cup hopeful Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4 in 74 minutes on Pista Central. The 27 year old, who reached the Dubai final (l. to Roddick) in February and reached the Vienna semifinals (l. to Petzschner) last week, improved to 22-23 on the season, while Wawrinka dropped to 38-19 on the season.