Former world No 1 Murray wins another epic, beats Zverev to reach quarter-finals in Doha

Former world No 1 Andy Murray won another epic battle as he beat German Alexander Zverev, the No 4 seed, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha on Wednesday.

Murray, ranked No 70, who saved three match points in his opening-round win, was two points from defeat at one stage in the final set, but held his nerve again to clinch victory after three hours, two minutes.

The 35-year-old Scot, who will face French qualifier Alexandre Muller next, admitted he had been up against it in the decider.

“In the third set I was really hanging in there,” he said. “He was creating most of the chances and was the better player for much of it. But I kept fighting, managed to get the break and got it done at the end.”

In the previous round, Andy Murray edged out Italian Lorenzo Sonego (4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4)).

Doha ATP250, other second-round results (Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, hard, USD 1.377.025, most recent results first):

• Liam Broady vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Christopher O’Connell: wednesday
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (7) beat SoonWoo Kwon: 6-3, 6-2
• Andrey Rublev (1) beat Tallon Griekspoor: 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6)
• Alexandre Muller beat Botic van de Zandschulp (8): 6-2, 6-4
• Jiri Lehecka beat Emil Ruusuvuori: 6-2, 7-6 (2)
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (2) beat Jason Kubler: 4-6, 6-1, 6-4