Andy Murray battled hard to defeat Australian qualifier Max Purcell and advance to the Canadian Open’s round of 16.
In Toronto, the 36-year-old British player defeated Purcell 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 7-5 after two hours and 47 minutes.
Murray won the first set on a tie-break, but world No. 78 Purcell came back to force a third set.
Early on, Purcell led by a break, but three-time Grand Slam champion Murray kept his serve at a 4-2 deficit to begin his comeback. Murray was able to hold once more at 5-5 and go ahead before breaking Purcell’s serve in the set’s 12th game to secure the victory.
Murray will compete against Italian Jannik Sinner, the seventh seed, for a spot in the quarterfinals. Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz, 20, through to the third round as well after defeating American Ben Shelton 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in his match.
The 20-year-old Shelton was a tough opponent for the Spanish world number one, who will now take against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
