An emotional Andy Murray continued to make encouraging strides on his comeback from hip surgery as he booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Washington Open.
The 31-year-old Scot, who withdrew from Wimbledon after deciding he was not quite ready to compete, showed impressive reserves of fitness to see off Romania's Marius Copil 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.
The match in the US capital lasted three hours and two minutes and finished just after 3am local time (11am UAE time), and Murray buried his head in his towel at the conclusion of the match, apparently sobbing.
The seventh time is the charm 🙌
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 31, 2018
Andy Murray converts his seventh match point to beat Mackenzie McDonald at the @CitiOpen, earning his second victory in the past 12 months.
What did you think of the former World No. 1's performance? 🤔
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He will next face Australia's Alex de Minaur in the last eight on Friday evening.
Copil proved a testing opponent, breaking back when Murray appeared set to move clear in the decider.
Murray, who underwent hip surgery in January, reached this stage with wins over Mackenzie McDonald and fellow Briton Kyle Edmund, and now faces world No 72 De Minaur for a place in the semi-finals.
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