Andy Murray admits he had to ‘keep fighting’ to move into Stuttgart quarter-finals

Andy Murray admitted he needed to ‘keep fighting’ to overcome Alexander Bublik and move into a second quarterfinal of the season.

Murray faced the seventh seed in the round-of 16 in Stuttgart, and produced a fine opening set to take command of the match.

A second set blip followed, though, with him 2-5 down at one point, but he was able to weather the Bublik storm and complete a straight sets win and advance into the last eight.

“He (Bublik) is predictable in his unpredictability. You are prepared for some amazing shots and then maybe some loose games,” Murray said after the match.

“Today he played some amazing stuff for five or six games in the second set and everything was coming off and I was getting a bit frustrated, but I kept fighting.

“[I] held a tough game at 2-5 and I thought I played well through to the finish.”

“It was quite tricky the conditions today, it was quite blustery. I moved well on the courts well.

“The court is very dry, so it is nice to move on.

“Hopefully into the weekend the conditions will be a bit calmer and I can play some better tennis.”

Andy Murray will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Dominic Stricker in the last eight. Should it be Tsitsipas, it will be their first meeting since a bad-tempered clash at the US Open last year.

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