Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray both had to fight through their respective fourth-round matches on Tuesday at the Miami Open.
Both showed their mettle, however, and outlasted the competition to reach the quarterfinals at the second consecutive ATP Masters 1000 event.
The top-seeded Djokovic dropped the first set to Alexandr Dolgopolov, but he ultimately took the second set and cruised in the third 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-0.
Djokovic, who beat Rafael Nadal at South Beach in last year's final, looks to take the Miami crown for the fifth time in his career.
The two-time champion and third-seeded Murray was a hard-fought winner as well, becoming the ninth active men's player to record 500 career match wins by getting past 15th-seeded South African slugger Kevin Anderson 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at Crandon Park.
Murray, who trains three months out of the year in Miami, also became the first British player in the Open Era (since 1968) to reach 500 wins.
He was given a cake on the court in recognition of the achievement.
"It means a lot," said Murray. "There's not a whole lot [of players] that have managed to get to 500. It's very nice to have done that. To do it here in Miami was quite fitting. I've done a lot of hard yards on this court, put in a lot of work here."
Murray titled in Miami two years ago and in 2009 and was the runner-up in 2012. His quarterfinal opponent will be promising Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori eased past 18th-seeded David Goffin 6-1, 6-2 to advance, and he will face the winner of the nightcap between fifth-seeded Milos Raonic and John Isner.
Meanwhile, sixth-seeded former French Open runner-up and 2013 Miami finalist David Ferrer handled 12th-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 and eighth-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up and 2010 Miami finalist Tomas Berdych was beating 17th-seeded Gael Monfils 6-3, 3-2 when the Frenchman retired with a hip injury on Day 7.
Ferrer will take on Djokovic in the next round, while Berdych will tangle with gritty Argentine Juan Monaco in the round of eight.
The aforementioned Thiem doused 28th-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5 and the former top-10 performer Monaco upended 29th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3. Verdasco upset his fellow countryman Rafael Nadal in the round of 32.
This weekend's champion will earn $900,400.
[SportsNetwork.com]
